


An Outcast

by blaszczu2500



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banishment, Character Death, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Crossover, Death, Disintegration, Endgame, Enemies to Friends, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I am Iron Man, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Stones, Infinity War, Little Homeworld, MaleReaderInsert, My english sucks, Quantum Realm, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Thanos pissed off a lot of people, Time Travel, reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-02-08 12:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 45
Words: 207,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21476020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blaszczu2500/pseuds/blaszczu2500
Summary: Considered a corrupted gem by becoming one and only male gem in existance, you were banished from Homeworld. For all of the years of your banishment you did your best to stay away from gems who saw monster in you, only because you were different from them. However, everything may change for you when you receive a contract from a man known as the Collector. MCUxSU crossover.
Relationships: Gamora/Peter Quill, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe), Spinel (Steven Universe)/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 66





	1. The Contract

**Your gem name in this story is Azurite. I own nothing except my OC's, and some parts of the plot.**

* * *

_Location: Knowhere_

Azurite sighed as he set an empty glass on the counter after finishing his liquor. He could hear the sound of the people talking, arguing, or even singing some songs they knew while being drunk in the background. It was a bar so he wasn't excepting more from this place.

"_Just sit in the bar, and wait for one of my servants to call over for you._" He thought to himself, shaking his head in irritation. He's been waiting here for over two hours now.

"So, what are you doing here, Az?" The bartender asked him as he refilled his glass. Azurite was visiting this bar from time to time, and these two were actually really good friends.

"Take a guess." Azurite answered.

"...Oh, The Whitebound brothers?" The bartender said in realization. If Azurite didn't came here to get a drink or two by himself, or with the people he knew, there was only one other reason than that, he came here because someone wanted to offer him a job. When Azurite shook his head, he said another person that came into his mind, "The Collector?"

"Yup." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head, "He called me, and told me that he has a new job for me."

"It must be something important if he didn't told you what he wants from you in the message." The bartender stated.

"You're telling me." Azurite agreed with him.

"...So, how have you been doing? It's been a while since you came here." The bartender asked.

"As usual." Azurite answered, "Just traveled around, did some jobs, either alone or with Shi'ra's help, saw Quill and his crew once or two.''

"Just another days of Azurite." The bartender stated.

"That's right." Azurite said with a nod of his head.

"So, have you seen the message, two months ago when this kid..." The bartender was cut off in the middle of the sentence.

"I saw it when I was on Xandar. I am happy that the Diamonds are not longer a threat, but it doesn't change the fact that I despise them." Azurite explained as the bartender nodded his head in agreement, having the same mind as Azurite about the Diamonds, "Also, this kid things that the universe is suddenly safe because of it. The Diamonds were just one of the many threats, and there are threats that are much worse than all of them combined. The universe is a dangerous place. It always has been and it always will be."

"Yeah. It's hard to disagree." The bartender couldn't do anything but agree with him.

Suddenly, on the other side, a dar opened, revealing a pink-skinned woman. She stepped into the bar and called over, "Mister Azurite, I'm here to fetch you for my master."

The woman gestured towards the doors, and gestured to follow her through them, Azurite stood up from his seat, and said, "Thanks for the drink."

"Sure thing. At least I had someone to talk to." The bartender smiled at Azurite, nodding his head.

Azurite followed the pink-skinned woman, who as he found out from was named Tarina, led him to a building in the shape of a large, purple dome. Inside were numerous glass cages, big and small, each containing something, be it plants, animals or people.

"No matter how many times I was here, this place always creeps me out." Azurite muttered to himself.

"Azurite!" The familiar voice called over to him. Azurite turned towards the source of the voice and saw a man wearing a white fur coat, "How wonderful it is to see you!"

"I wish I could say the same." Azurite said, crossing his arms. The only reason why he was doing jobs for this man was that he paid him a lot.

"Your words are hurting my heart, Az." The Collector said, putting his hand on his heart, dramatically.

"_At first you need to have one._" Azurite thought to himself. This man would sell his own family if it would make his collection bigger.

"You're probably wondering why I wanted to talk with you." The Collector stated the obvious.

"Otherwise I wouldn't come here." Azurite pointed out.

The Collector just rolled his eyes at Azurite's comment, as he began explaining, "You see, my dear Azurite. You probably saw the message of a person is known by many names. One of them being Pink Diamond. He told that he is going to spend some time with his friends on Earth..." The Collector began explaining, but Azurite interrupted him.

"I know that already. Get to the point." Azurite demanded.

"You see, I could use some more servants, and I heard that a certain gem from your spieces were specifally made for serving." The Collector finished his explanation.

"No, no." Azurite said as began to shook his head, once he realized what he meant by that, "Don't even think about it!"

"Yes, yes." The Collector said back, "I am thinking about it."

"I told you already that I want to have nothing to do with them! They were fine with me dying off in some small ship. Why do you think I keep covering my gem with that headscarf?!" Azurite shouted, angrily, pointing at his covered forehead.

"I know about that. That's why I told to come here, otherwise you wouldn't even consider coming here." The Collector pointed out.

"You're damn right I wouldn't!" Azurite confirmed what he just said to him.

"Just let me tell how much I want you pay you for that." The Collector said, calmly.

"Go ahead." Azurite told him.

"1 million units." The Collector revealed.

"... Excuse me... How many?" Azurite asked, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard it.

"1 million units." The Collector repeated what he said.

"Why are willing to pay me so much for it?" Azurite wanted to know.

"Because, your species don't age, so I wouldn't have to worry about losing her." The Collector explained.

"How are you going to make her serve you? Is is a part of the contract as well?" Azurite asked another question.

"No. That is none of your concern. I'll find a way how to make her serve me." The Collector assured him.

"But, why me out all people, because something tells me that you have other reason than me being a gem." Azurite asked.

"Because, your old pals. The Guardians of the Galaxy recently paid a visit to bar on this planet, and I met one of them on the streets. I know that you're in a need of units after you gave almost everything you had to fix your ship." The Collector answered.

"Rocket..." Azurite muttered under his breath, knowing exactly who it was. He knew he was overpaying when he visited that mechanic, but if his ship would no longer be usable, he'd lost every upgrade his ship had on, such as the possibility of invisibility which he earned from a huntresses named Shi'ra, someone that he grew to love a his own family, a sister, despise being different spieces.

He sighed. He didn't want to do this, but he didn't had other option. He knew he needed those units to survive, "Fine. I'll do it."

The Collector clapped his hands, as a smile grew on his face, "Wonderful! I'm glad you decided to do this!"

"Whatever." Azurite said, as he turned towards the exit, "I should get going on."

"What about my other contract? Did you reconsidered it?" The Collector wanted to know.

"No and I won't. Good luck finding a moron who will do it." Azurite answered.

"You know, I've been having The Reality Stone for a while now. I bought it from someone." The Collector revealed something that Azurite was unaware of.

"What?" Azurite asked, suprised by what he just heard. Who was_ that _stupid to give him one of the most powerful objects in the universe?!

"Life is full of suprises, dear Azurite." The Collector told him, as Azurite, was still not believing that someone sold him one of the Infinity Stones.

Azurite whispered, "Bastard." to himself, as he started to make his way towards his ship. As was walking through the streets of Knowhere, he came across a young girl, who was holding her arm out towards him.

"Here you go, kid. You need it more than me." He said to the girl, giving her some of his money. He knew he was in a need of units, but there were people who needed it more than he did. And that little girl was one of those people.

"Thank you." The girl said in a very grateful tone.

"There's no need to thank me." Azurite said with a wave of his hand, as the girl smiled at him, and gave him a quick hug, before running off, probably to get some food for herself.

He smiled to himself. At least he brought a smile to this girls face as he proceeded to walk towards his ship. A few minutes later he arrived on his ship, and walked inside of it. One of the first things he saw upon entering it, he saw something what he called "Memorial Wall" of the people he met, and came to care about in his years of exploration of the universe.

He stopped himself in front of it and stared at the photos, as he began thinking about the people he cared about in his life.

The first photo on this wall was the photo of a man who's name was Freddy. He actually knew him for only a few hours, but he took a liking in him during them.

The second photo showed Darnel. The man who was Freddy's companion when he met them. They were the first people he talked with since his banishment from Homeworld, because he came across them on the first day he came out of his ship, which also happened to one of the scariest days of his life. While he and Darnel made it out of the situation they found themselves in alive, Freddy was killed in action. That's why he knew him for such a short amount of time. As for Darnel, he and Azurite became really good friends, and stayed with each other until Darnel passed out his bed.

The third photo was showing a man who taught him how fight hand-hand-in combat, and made him prefer this style of fighting instead of using guns, or swords, or knives. His name was Dragan.

The fourth photo was showing a huntresses that upgraded his ship that it could turn invisible any moment Azurite wanted. He could actually relate to her, because they both were banished by their people for being different. The reason why was she banished was because she was born with a rare sickness that made her shorter than most of women from her people. She and him actually remain in contact with each other, the only difference being that she was much older than she was the moment they met each other.

The fifth photo was showing a family that took him in as if he was one of their own. This was actually one of not many times in his life when he felt like he actually belonged somewhere, but all good things must've come to an end. One day, The Dark Lord of the Universe invaded this planet and killed half of it's population, this family being one of the victims. The head of the family, Rin held his daughter Aleena in his arms, while his wife, and Aleena's mother Karolyn had her arm wrapped around him.

"_I wish I could've saved you from them... Save you from him..._" Azurite thought to himself.

And finally the last picture was showing the poeple who were one of not many people he could call a friend these days. These people were a crew who called themselves "The Guardians of the Galaxy". They met with each other when they were ordered by The High Priestess Ayesha of Sovereign to take him, and Nebula otherwise known as "The Biggest Sadist in the Galaxy" to the prison on Xandar, but fortunely for them, Rocket, a talking raccoon stole some of their batteries, which lead to the series of interesting events. They even offered him a place in their crew, but he politely declined their offer, but they still remain in contact with each other.

He only wished he had the picture of Nebula alongside theirs, but he couldn't blame her for not wanting him to take her a picture. After everything she's been through...

How did he found himself in the Soverign captivity? Because he agreed to do a job for the Whitebound brother to steal some of their batteries.

"New contract, new contract, new contract..." He heard his computer say as it took him away from his thoughts. It was repeating those words over and over again, as Azurite made his way towards it, and eyed what was written on the screen,

New Contract

The Task: Bring a Pearl to The Collector

The Person That Ordered it: The Collector

Payment: 1 000 000 Units

Do you accept it?

Yes No

Azurite sighed as accepted the contract, by pressing yes on the screen.

This was going to be a long contract, and probably the most dangerous one he had in a while.

He knew that if they caught him, they most likely were going to shatter him, or banish him, one more time.

He was worried about the first part that much, because he didn't had anything to lose. As for the second part, he wasn't going to not stay with them, anyway. So the option of getting banished once again wasn't that scary to him.

* * *

_One day later_

Azurite sighed to himself, as he thought to himself, "_This is it. I'm here."_

It took him only one day for his ship to take himto Earth, thanks to the upgrade which increased his ship's speed. He was still working on making it faster, but for now, it was better than nothing.

As for now, he was preparing himself to step outside out of his ship, making sure to hide every trace of him being a gem, or for what he came here for.

He stopped what he was doing the moment he heard someone banging on his ship.

_"Hello? Are you a gem from Homeworld? If, yes. I'd like to meet you if you allow us to talk to you."_

Azurite immediately recognized that the voice. It was Steven, the kid from the massage.

"_I'm a gem, however, I wish I wasn't._" Azurite thought to himself, as he made sure that his machete was on his back, even though he was barely using it because he prefered to use his hands and that his chains with a hooks were hid in the back of his red jacket. He also made sure that his headscarf was wrapped tightly around his forehead, he didn't want them to discover what he really was.

"Here we go. Relax, Azurite, you just take one of the pearls with you without anyone noticing and leave." He actually couldn't remember the last time when he was that nervous about a contract.

With that, he hit the control panel, which lowered hatch down.

The moment after, a daylight shone into his face...


	2. Earth Part 1

When the opening door lowered itself slowly, daylight began to shine into Azurite's face. He put his hand in front of his face for a moment, because the Earth's sun was hurting his eyes.

He held his hand for several more seconds, waiting until the sun would stop hurting his eyes, and when it finally did, he heard Steven say to him, "Hi there! My name is Steven, but you may know me as Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. You may call me whichever you want, but I prefer Steven."

"I'm not a gem." Azurite corrected him, as he lowered his hand down, and could finally take a look at this kid. He looked exactly like in the message from two months ago.

"Oh." Steven said in response, eyeing Azurite, "That's the first time when we have a visitor that isn't a gem."

"Well, I feel honored to be the first one." Azurite said, before adding, "And before you ask me about my spieces. I'm a Zaran."

"Zaran? I've never heard about your species before." Steven pointed out.

"My spieces is a very rare one. I may be one of it's last representatives." Azurite said, doing his best to sound as believable as he could.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Steven said as Azurite just shrugged his shoulders at it, "What's your name?"

"...Yondu." Azurite replied, and immediately cursed himself mentally for picking up this name. He could only imagine how Quill would react if he found that he used the name of someone who was like a father to him to hide his real identify from the people he came across during a contract.

"It's nice to meet you, then, Yondu." Steven said, extending his hand for a handshake. At first, Azurite hesitated, but eventually shook his hand, "May I ask why have come here?"

"I have a friend from this planet, his name is Peter Quill, and his birthday is coming and I thought about coming to this town, and find a good gift to him." Azurite explained. This excuse was very simple. He knew that a child would come up with an excuse like this, but it was better than telling them and he got lost and ended up on this planet.

Besides, this excuse wasn't exactly a lie. Even though, Quill's birthday was coming in a few months, he was already wondering about what to buy him. It would be a symbol of his gratefulness, because Quill and his crew gave Azurite a few gifts, telling him it was his birthday present, even though he told them that he doesn't celebrate birthdays.

But he didn't mind that. The bomb he got from Rocket or a glove that was forming a myst around it's user he got from Gamora and Quill or two hooks that he was using to drag away the enemies who were harder to beat away from him, so he had bigger chance in defeating them he got from Drax were really useful.

"He lives in space?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, but believe me, he really enjoys living in space. He lived there for most of his life." Azurite answered.

"That's good for him. Everyone should live in a place where they feel at home." Steven stated.

Azurite bit his lips at those words, not really knowing what to say back to him.

"May I ask why are your covering your forehead?" Steven asked, noticing Azurite's silence.

"No. That is none of your concern." Azurite quickly replied, the tone of his voice having a hint of anger.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to anger you." Steven said back, assuming that it must've been a sensetive subject for Azurite, unaware that it was hiding his gem.

"It's okay. It just, this is a really sensitive topic for me. It just brings some bad memories to me" Azurite told him as Steven nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, considering that you're here now, how about I show you around, and introduce you to the rest of the townspeople." Steven offered, gesturing towards a large group of other humans behind them.

"That would be nice." Azurite said with a nod of his head as the control panel opened on his left arm. He pressed a few buttons on it, and much to everyone's suprise Azurite's ship turned invisible.

"...How did you do that?" Steven asked what was on everyone's mind.

"It's an upgrade I installed along with a friend of mine. You have no idea how much I worked for this to be possible. It would have been much easier if I had more advanced model but I feel a huge attachment to it. I've been using it for as long as I can remember." Azurite explained. This wasn't a lie. This ship is his very first one, which was given to him by Dragan after he died of an old age. It was his final gift to Azurite, for which he was very grateful to the man who teached him everything he knew in hand-hand in combat.

Steven nodded his head in understanding, as he began walking towards the other humans, motioning Azurite to follow him.

"Okay, Azurite. They don't seem to be suspicious of you. Just keep your cool." Azurite thought as he followed Steven, hoping to get this contract done as fast as he could.

* * *

As much as Azurite didn't want to admit that to himself, he actually enjoyed meeting those humans that Steven introduced him to. They were welcoming despise him showing up today, and seeing how he got along with the townspeople, Steven decided to take Azurite to Little Homeworld. From what he heard from Steven, it as a small city for gems to live around humans in peace.

The first thing he saw when they entered this town were gems, a lot of them. They were walking through the streets, talking with each other, or working on something. Azurite was eyeing them carefully. He was trying to find a certain type of gem, and much to his luck, there were a few of them living there, and now, he just had to came up with a way how to take one of them without anyone noticing.

"There they are!" He heard Steven say, as he turned around to the direction that he was pointing at and he could feel that the world almost stopped when he saw her. It was Pink's pearl. She was there when the Diamonds banished him.

"Please don't recognize me, please don't recognize me..." Azurite kept repeating those words in his mind as they approached them.

When they greeted each other, one of them, a Peridot pointed at Azurite and asked, "Is this a gem that came into the ship we saw?"

"He's not a gem. He's a Zaran and his name in Yondu." Steven explained.

"Hi..." Azurite, still a little nervous about the fact that Pink's Pearl was standing in front of him.

"A Zaran? Cool. It's the first time when we have a visitor that isn't a gem." Amethyst stated, eyeing Azurite, which made him more nervous than he already was, but he was doing good job at hiding it.

"That's what I told him." Steven chuckled.

"It's nice to meet you, Yondu." Bismuth said.

"It's always nice meeting new people." Garnet added.

"Pleasure is all mine." Azurite said with a bow of his head.

"Yondu, why did you come here? I assume that you came here for a reason. Peridot asked. A Lapis Lazuli that stood next to her, nodded her head in agreement. They didn't know why, but they had a feeling that Azurite came here for a specified reason.

"Yondu has a friend from Earth. His name is Peter Quill, and he wants to find a good gift for him. He saw my massage and thought it'll be a good idea to come here to find it." Steven explained.

"I know that this reason may be childlish, but when it comes to Quill and his crew. I want to make their gifts special. They showed me light when I was lost. They were one of the people who made me realize that there are still good things in this world." Azurite added. This wasn't a lie, before he met them, the only people he talked with Shi'ra and the bartender on Knowhere. He didn't count The Collector, or the Whitebound brothers, or other people who were giving him contracts, because he didn't talk with them because he liked them.

Steven titled his head, as Azurite said those words. It must've been one of the reasons why he was covering his forehead, but what made him think that everything in this world was bad.

Steven's friend nodded their heads in understanding. Everyone except for Pearl who couldn't get rid of the feeling that she already saw this man, but she couldn't remember from where.

"Hey, Pearl? Are you okay? You've been staring weirdly at this guy from the moment you set your eyes on him." Amethyst whispered to Pearl.

"I just have a feeling that I saw his face already, but I can't remember when..." was Pearl's reply.

* * *

An hour after Steven introduced Azurite to his friends in Little Homeworld, they both walked through the entrance to the place which was called "Fish Stew Pizza" or something like that, where they would have their meal.

"C'mon. Let's pick a seat." Steven said to him as he and Azurite made their way to the closest seats that were empty. He didn't know if he was going to like the food they serve here, but he told him to pick whichever he wanted so, Steven took him a place where they sell food called pizza, or something like that.

He knew that he as a gem didn't have to eat, but he actually enjoyed it. The day after he met Darnel and Freddy, Darnel took him to one of his friends that lived nearby the forest where they crashed

After they gave Freddy a proper burial, he, Darnel and Darnel's friend shared a meal together. At first, Azurite was a bit hesitant about trying it, but after he took first bite, he took another, and another. At first, He found this whole eating thing weird, but as the time passed, he found this process to be quite enjoyable.

"Hey, Steven. How may I help you?" The gem waitress smiled, revealing a set of sharp teeth, as she approached their table.

"I'll have the usual." Steven answered.

The waitress nodded her head as she wrote that down a piece of paper, before looking up at Azurite, "What about you, sir?"

"Suprise me." Azurite told her.

Several minutes later, the waitress came back with their food. When she put the trays with the food on the table, Steven and Azurite quickly noticed that something was odd about their meal. On top of their pizzas were raw fishes and seafood.

"Excuse me, but I think it's raw." Azurite said.

The gem looked at the pizzas, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll take it right back." She picked up both trays from the table, and began to walk back into the kitchen, "Hey, Nephrite! You're supposed to cook the fish before putting it on pizza!"

"I'm sorry about it, they're still learning." Steven told Azurite.

"It's alright. I understand." He assured him with a raised palm, smilling to himself.

For now, everything was going according to his plan. They didn't seemed to see him as a possible danger to them, and it seemed like he was slowly earning their trust. They probably saw him as a simple guy who just wants to find a good gift for his friend.

Now he had to find a way how to get himself close to Pink's Pearl, or one of the Pearls that live in this "Little Homeworld" thing not too far from this town.

And if he was lucky enough, he'd get out of here with a Pearl as fast as it was possible.

The less time he spent on this planet, the less time they had to learn about the real reason why he came here, and his true identify.


	3. Earth Part 2

After he and Steven shared a meal together, Azurite decided to pay little a visit to Little Homeworld. He told him that he was wanted to get to know some of the gems, but his real reason behind it was because he wanted to get closer to one of the Pearls.

As for his opinion about his meal was that was nice, it wasn't the best thing he ever had, but he enjoyed every piece of it, and he actually found it quite hilarious that the gem who made his pizza forgot to cook the fish before putting it on his meal.

As for now, It's been two hours since he came to this Little Homeworld thing, and there was one thing that caught his attention when he started to spent time with the gems that lived in this town. That thing was that they all so happy all the time. There was only one time when he was truly happy in his life, but it was really short lived when you compare it to how long he lives.

His happiness was taken away from him, when the people who made him feel like he found something he's been looking for his entire life were taken away from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

But he didn't hate his fellow gems who didn't know he was one of them, only because they were happy, and were enjoying their life. He's already been through that phase in his life. There was a long period of time in his life back when he was spending all of his time in his ship when he wanted to make all of them feel what he felt for his entire life, but now, he felt nothing towards them. They were just another spieces of many spieces of the universe, who would, sooner or later see that they aren't as safe as they thought they are.

"Yondu..." A voice which belonged to Bismuth called over to him, but he didn't respond, "Yondu! **Yondu!**"

"...What?" He asked with a shake of his head, "Oh, sorry. I just l lost myself in my thoughts." He explained as he was now spending time with Bismuth, Peridot, Lapis, Amethyst and Pearl. Garnet wasn't with them at this moment. Why? He didn't know. He didn't care. If something would go wrong, and he'd have to fight with them in order to his contract done, it would be one opponent less, "What were you saying?"

"I asked you if I can check the machete you've carrying on your back." Bismuth repeated what she was saying. For which time? Azurite had no idea.

"Sure." Azurite said as he took his machete off his back and handed it Bismuth, "Just be careful with it."

"I will. Don't worry." Bismuth assured as she began to examine his machete. A moment after she handed it back to him, and said, "It's nice. I can tell that you're taking care of it, and making sure that it's in a good shape."

"Thank you. It belonged to someone who was important to me. I wouldn't forgive myself if something would happen to it." Azurite explained.

"May I ask who was this person?" Pearl asked, still having the strange feeling inside of her that was telling her and she knew him from somewhere, but was doing good job at hiding it.

"Let's just say it was one of the reasons that made me believe that there aren't any good things in this world, but as you may remember the Guardians of the Galaxy made me believe, once again that there are good things in this world." Azurite said, the last part confused the gems.

"The Guardians of the Galaxy?" Lapis asked with raised brow.

"Oh, right. Quill's crew. That's how they are calling them." Azurite explained.

"Why are they calling them like that?" Lapis asked another question.

"You may take a guess on this." Azurite replied, finding that the answer was quite obvvious.

"The Guardians of the Galaxy? I'm certain that they would get along with The Avengers if they met one day." Peridot stated, which confused Azurite.

"The Avengers?" Azurite asked, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard it. Now it was his turn to be confused.

"They're known as Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Bismuth explained.

"They are adored by many humans, including Steven." Peridot added, "But they had a fight, over a year ago, and they split, but it doesn't change the fact that he adores them."

"The Earth's Mightiest Heroes? They're like Kevin Bacon?" Azurite asked, saying the first thing that came into his mind.

"No. He's an actor. Steven once showed us a movie with him." Lapis corrected him, as she rubbed her head, trying to remember what movie it was, "I think it was...."

"Footloose." Peridot finished for her, raising her index finger, "It was Footloose."

"Oh, yeah. That was it. Thanks Peri." Lapis thanked Peridot for reminding her, to which the short green gem smiled.

"How do you even know about him?" Amethyst wanted to know.

"I heard Quill mention him a few times." Azurite answered, "He also told me that he used to imagine that some guy named David Hasselhoff was his dad." 

"He used to imagine that he was his dad? Is Quill an orphan?" Pearl wondered.

Azurite rubbed his chin, "It's really complicated when it comes to his family. Let's don't talk about his dad." he then thought to himself, "_But not as complicated as with Gamora's and Nebula's._'' 

"Why?" Pearl wondered.

"He wasn't a pleasant person." Azurite answer and short and quick. He didn't want to talk about Ego and about what was he doing to his own children. Sometimes, he still couldn't believe that he made out of there alive, "As I said, let's don't talk about him. How about I tell you how they met?"

The gems shared a quick look at each other, as Peridot said, "Why not." with a shrug of her shoulders.

"They started traveling together after they escaped a prison on Xandar known as Kyln, and not too long after that they saved the entire galaxy from a Kree fanatic known as Ronan The Accuser. That's when they started calling them "The Guardians of the Galaxy"." Azurite explained.

"They seem to make a pretty good team." Amethyst stated. The other gems had to agree with her on that part, depise the fact that they started to work together because they wanted to escape from prison.

"They are. They actually offered me to join them, but I declined their offer." Azurite explained. 

"Why?" Amethyst asked another question.

"I'm not a fan of the crowds. I have some bad experiences with it." Azurite's answer to her question was short and quick.

"You know, for a person that young, you seem to have a lot about experiences." Pearl stated, then quickly added, "But, I'm not saying it's bad thing. We all have gone through something in our lives."

"I'm much older than I look. My spiece ages very slowly." Azurite said. 

"Then how old are you?" Pearl asked what was on everyone's mind.

"A few hundred years." Azurite answered, then asked her, even though he already knew the answer but it would make his disguise more believable, "You?"

"A few thousand." Pearl replied.

"Oh, that's nice." Azurite said, trying to act suprised, as he looked around them, "... If you were living for that long, then how you must've been on this planet for a long time... Were there any other visits of other spieces, except for us and me? That question just popped into my mind." 

"Except for us and you. There was a certain visit." Bismuth explained, but the tone of her voice changed into a more bittersweet one with the last few words.

"But we wouldn't call it a good visit." Lapis added.

"We wouldn't? That's a gentle way to put it." Peridot said as Lapis couldn't help but agree with her.

"Why?" Azurite wanted to know, now feeling curious about it, as he suddenly felt Amethyst grab his hand.

"There are tons of videos on TubeTube from that day. I'll show you." She said, as she ran into one of the houses, making Azurite run behind her.

Once, they reached one of the houses, she walked over to a thing that looked a like a computer, and loaded a site called "TubeTube", then she typed on the screen.

"_Avengers New York Invasion 2012_"

Dozens of video appeared on the screen before them, and then she clicked the first video, and once it loaded, it began with an inscription that said.

_"This video shows the events of what happened in the New York. It shows how the Avengers fought off Loki Odinson and his troops.''_

Then, the video cut into a man who was dressed in a blue costume as threw his shield into one of the invaders. The next person was a man in a Iron Suit, flying above the town, as he was taking down every invader that appeared in his view, then the screen showed them a red-headed woman with two pistols in her hands as she was shooting down every invader that came into her view. A man with a bow was by her side, and the most interesting part about this man was the fact that he didn't seem to miss any of his shots. Then suddenly, a large green person came charging next to them into a alley where he crashed one of the invaders into a wall, while the other began to run away from him in panic. Azurite wouldn't want to be on his bad side. And finally, the last person that this video showed was a man with long blond-hair, and a hammer in one of his hands, fighting off dozens of the invaders.

He could easily say that he was impressed by what was happening on this screen.

But his mood has suddenly changed when he recognized who these aliens were. He felt cold shiver go through his back.

"Chitauri..." He whispered to himself in realization as some unpleasant imagines from his past began to fly through his head.

_"The Great Titan thanks for your sacrifice!"_

_"Uncle Az!"_

_"Now go in peace and meet your maker!"_

They should considered themselves lucky that they sent this "Loki" guy instead of the Black Order because the invasion of this planet would be like walk in the park for them.

"Dude? Are you okay?" Amethyst asked, noticing that something was off about him.

"Yes." Azurite quickly answered, taking himself off his thoughts, "I just focused on watching the battle. It's really impressive that the group of six people stopped an entire invasion."

"You're telling me. I remember to this day when I walked into the temple, and saw Steven watching something on the TV. How excited he was when they showed the video of Captain America, or Iron Man fighting off these invaders." Amethyst explained.

"How did you felt about them?" Azurite asked.

"I found it really cool, Pearl found it really meh, because we were doing literally the same thing for a much longer period of time, and we unlike them weren't getting any credit for it, as for Garnet. She just said it was nice." Amethyst explained.

Azurite just gave a chuckle in response, but it a more of a forced one. Amethyst didn't saw that because he did a good job on hiding it.

"Now. Let's get back to the others." Amethyst said, as they made their way back to the other gems.

The first thing that Azurite noticed when they arrived there was that Garnet was back with them. It seemed like she was done with whatever she was doing. 

Great...

* * *

_In the meantine._

A warp which was not too far from Beach City, shined, and moment after someone was standing on it. It was a gem, and her name was Spinel. The last two months of her life, she spent in Homeworld, recovering from the recent events that happened in this town, and the Diamonds seeing how good she was turning out allowed her to make a choice, if she wanted to stay with them, or go to Earth. She decided to come to Earth, because she wanted to try life on Earth on this planet.

Most of her trip towards Beach City, and Little Homeworld where she would met up with Steve looked pretty normal,but then, she walked into something, which confused her a lot, because there was nothing in front of her. To see what was in front of her, she decided to wrap one her arms and around it, and a moment later, she came to a realization that it a was a ship.

She wrapped her other hand around it, curious about the fact that there was an invisible ship in the forest, and touched it, until she felt something that felt like a button. She decided to press it, and much to her suprise, a ship appeared right in front of her, and the entrance to it slowly opened itself, but it raised even more questions.

Who came here in this ship? It couldn't be a gem because the Homeworld never used a ship like this before.

Why would this person hide his ship?

She decided to walk into the ship, even though she knew that she was invading someone's privacy without a permission. Inside of this ship, she passed a wall that had "Memorial Wall" written above a few pictures. She took the first off the wall, and flipped it to the other side.

"I wish I could have gotten to know you better." She read what was written there. She immediately came to a realization what happened to this man, and it must've hurt the person that came into this ship.

"My first friend." The picture after this said. His first friend? He didn't had any friends before meeting this man?

"Thank you so much for everything.'' The next picture said. This person must've done something to the person that came in this ship. She formed a theory in her head what was that the moment she saw what was standing behind that man. It was ship which she recognized immediately. Was this the exact same ship?

"My closest friend." She didn't had much to think about this picture. It just showed a person who this person considered to be their closest friend.

"My family." With that picture, a theory that one of those people was the one that came here in this ship formed in her head, but it made her confused. Why wouldn't he be with them at this moment? Something happened between them? And this picture seemed to be younger than the previous ones. Was this person abandoned by his real family?

"My friends" Now, this picture, had a lot of interesting people in it. At first, there a man. She was certain that the he was a human, next to him, there was a green-skinned woman with a long hair. Next to her, stood a large grey man which lots of tattoo on all over his body. There was also a girl with two antennas on her head. And the last two people on the picture were a raccoon, and small tree. She didn't focused her attention that an animal was standing next to them, like a regular person. She focused her attention on the small creature that was on his shoulder. It looked like a tree or something like that. Spinel had to admit it herself. The small tree was probably one of the cutest creatures she has ever seen.

And with that, she carefully put the picture on the wall, to make it look like she nobody touched it, before she began to explore to ship again. When she reached a computer, she was at least dozen of folders, and one of them said "Contracts". She touched the screen of his computer, and a folder which was filled with various files has opened. She didn't want to check each one of them, instead she decided to check the most recent one, because it could be the reason why this person came to the Earth in the first place.

A Contract

The Task: Bring a Pearl to The Collector

The Person That Ordered it: The Collector

Payment: 1 000 000 Units

The Collector... Who was this man? And more importantly what did he wanted to do with a Pearl, and who did he sent here to do this job?

These questions had to wait. The person that agreed to do this contract was somewhere in the city and was probably waiting for the right moment to kidnap a Pearl from Little Homeworld!

"I need to tell the others..." She said to herself, before sprinting out of his ship in the direction of Little Homeworld.

She had to warn them about the person that came in this ship and his true intentions.


	4. The Truth

After finding a mysterious ship in the forest, and finding out that the owner of it came here because he was paid to bring a Pearl to man who was known as The Collector, Spinel went to Beach City as fast as she could, where she came across Steven, who seemed to be happy that she was in a much better state than she was the last time he saw her.

But before he could ask her why she came here, she asked him if he saw a ship, and he told her that he did, and even met the person that came here a few hours ago. She then took him to Azurite's ship and showed him everything she saw in there, and the real reason why Azurite came here in the first place.

As for now, Steven and Spinel sprinted through the streets of Little Homeworld as fast as they could. They had to find Azurite, and ask him if bringing a Pearl to this mysterious man known as The Collector was his true intention.

They finally saw him, with other gems. They were chatting with each other, but he didn't hear about what.

"Yondu!" He called for him, earning their attention.

"Hello, again, St... Who's that?" Azurite asked, eyeing the new gem.

"Spinel?" Amethyst said, looking at the gem that came here with Stevem.

"Who?" Azurite asked.

"What is she doing here?" Lapis added.

"I'll explain that later, but now I have a question to Yondu." Steven said, having his attention on Azurite.

"What is it?" Azurite wanted to know what was he going to ask him.

"Who's The Collector?" Steven asked, crossing his arms, his normally friendly expression turning into a small glare.

"..._Oh, they know." _Azurite thought to himself, in realization. This new gem must've somehow find I way inside his ship, where she found all the information about the contract he received from The Collector.

"I guess, there's no point in being discrete anymore, if you already know." Azurite said, standing up from his seat, "This man paid me to bring me a one of the Pearls to him."

"What? Why would you agree to do that?" Pearl asked, taking a few steps away from, and taking her spear out, in case if Azurite was going to attack them. Two Pearls who just heard the real reason why Azurite came here, hid themselves in the houses.

"I'm a mercenary, people pay me to do something for them." Azurite said, his voice was still calm, even though he became a little nervous, because his true intentions were now revealed, "And this collector wanted me to bring him a servant that doesn't age."

"Why would you take this contract?" Steven wanted to know.

"Because I have nothing to lose. There are very few people in the universe that would actually miss me." Azurite explained, his mind flew to Shi'ra and Quill's crew, or even to the bartender on Knowhere.

"It seems like you're going to disappoint him, then." Garnet said, as her gauntlets appeared on her fists.

"If you say so." Azurite just stretched his arms in both ways, before taking his machete off his back, and gently laying it down on the ground, to make sure nothing would happen to it.

"What? You're surrending because you're outnumbered?" Peridot asked, saying what was on some of their minds.

"No. I'm just distracting you." Azurite told them, as he pressed a button on his glove. The gems held their weapons in ready for battle, but much to their confusion, a myst formed around them, out of nowhere.

The gems prepared themselves for fight, as the myst slowly disappeared. They looked around themselves, trying to see where Azurite was, but suddenly they heard that something was failing from the sky. They looked up as Azurite dropped from the sky, aiming for Pearl, but Steven pushed him out of the way and blocked his boots with his shield. Peridot used her power to pick up a few small metal objects, causing them to levitate above her, before pushing them towards Azurite, who was able to outrun each shot.

"He's good..." Amethyst stated.

"Who taught him that?" Peridot wondered.

Azurite reached them, and kicked away Amethyst's whip, as she tried to wrap it around him while dodging Garnet's and Bismuth's attacks, then delivering double blow, one to Garnet, one to Bismuth. He landed on the barrel, and kicked Amethyst in the face, leaping over another attacks of another gems, only to let himself be hit by Bismuth, so he can get behind Pearl, forcing her to press her spear up to Garnet.

She looked behind herself to see Azurite's stoic face looking at, thinking what was she going to do. Before she could do anything, he was lifted up by Spinel's hand, but he quickly freed himself from her grasp, before pulling his hooks off his back and wrapping it around Garnet and Bismuth.

"Garnet/Bismuth!" The gems cried after them, as Garnet and Bismuth were threw into one of the building by Azurite's hooks, destroying the front part of it. 

A moment after they cried their names, they turned around to face Azurite again, and a look of suprise and confusion grew on their faces, when they saw him doing handstand-spinning, which lasted a few more seconds, before he launched himself in the air, landing between Amethyst and Peridot. He grabbed the two short gems by their arms and delivers and flurry kicks that eventually knocked down, as Garnet and Bismuth rushed back into the fight from the destroyed front of the house they were threw into.

Once he was certain that he wouldn't have to deal with Amethyst and Peridot, at least for now, Azurite charged towards Pearl, who had to endure a blow from him, before he was grabbed by Lapis, who lifted him in the air, holding one of his hands in the water bubble, before she could do more, he pressed the button on his glove, activating another myst, only this time, it formed only around her, and when she was trying her best to keep him in her grasp, he freed himself, and once the myst was gone, he dropped from the sky at her, kicking her in the head.

"Lapis!" The gems cried her name as they both fell on the ground, with Lapis' face facing the ground, and Azurite standing above her. He had a perfect opportunity to kick her in her gem, and probably damage it, but he was not going to do that. He killed people before, but he was doing it because they made him do it, or he had a contract which required of him to do it, or when someone angered him because they were calling him names like defect.

Instead, he just kicked her in the back, causing her to stay on the ground, then he looked around himself to see Steven, Spinel, Garnet, Bismuth, and Pearl surrouding him, He rubbed his chin, turning glances between him and his opponents, before saying what was on his mind since the moment he arrived on this planet.

"You know something all of you. There was one time when I was truly happy in my life, but it was short lived, compared to how long I live, which is much longer than a few hundred years. While I still may have friends like Quill and his crew, I never was truly happy again, after they were taken from me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And the same will happen to you, sooner or later." He spoke up.

Garnet, not really listening to what Azurite was saying, went forward in order to punch Azurite, but he ducked her attacks as Spinel and Steven seemed to curious about what he just said. Who was taken away from him? Was he talking about the people from his "Memorial Wall"? If this theory was correct, then about who was he talking about? 

''I may have not been here for a long period of time, but there was one thing that suprised me. I'm suprised. I'm suprised by how happy you all are. You think that you are all safe, because the Diamonds are no longer a threat to you."

Azurite, turned to Steven, now fully focusing his attention on him, as two bubbles formed on Steven's hands.

"You really think that the universe suddenly became a safe place because you made the Diamonds stop what they were doing? The universe is a dangerous place, and it always will be a dangerous place!"

The disguised gem swung his fists at Steven, who blocked his every attack.

"No matter how many threats you will stop. More will appear! There are some threats that we don't even know about, yet!''

He jumped up, and tried to land a kick on Steven who once again, blocked his attack, but this time he used his shield, which appeared in his hand the moment Azurite jumped up.

"But none of that will matter, because when The Mad Titan will finally know the localization of all of the Infinity Stones we'll all fucked!" 

"Wait?... The Mad Titan? Infinity Stones?" Steven asked, looking and sounding completely confused by what Azurite just said. Azurite turned around himself, to see everyone looking as much confused at he was.

"...What. You've never heard about..." Azurite's anger suddenly turned into confusion. The Diamonds never told this kid about the guy who wants to wipe up half of all life in the universe? 

The revelation that they never heard about the Mad Titan, took Azurite completely off the guard, because he was sure the Diamonds at least mentioned him to him. He should've know about things like that!

But, before he could say something more, he suddenly felt that something was wrapped around him. He looked down at his body to see Spinel was wrapping her hands around him, along with Amethyst who was wrapping her whip around him. As he tried to free himself from their grasp, Bismuth took his hooks off his back, and Pearl took his glove off his hand, and handed it to Lapis who had gotten herself back on her feet, who put it into a water bubble to make sure that if Azurite wouldn't get them back if he somehow freed himself.

"Let go off me!" Azurite demanded, even though he knew it was pointless.

"Hold him tight. Do not let me free himself." Garnet told Amethyst and Spinel who nodded their heads in understanding. It caused Azurite to panic. He didn't want them to find out about his true identify, even though he knew that it was just a matter of seconds now.

"Now, let's see what you're hiding under it." Peridot said as her hand reached for Azurite's headscarf and took it off his forehead.

The answer they got shocked all of them. It made Lapis drop his things on the ground in shock.

They all saw a gem on his forehead.

"...What?" Amethyst asked after a moment of silence.

"You're a gem..." Steven stated with wide eyes.

The gems from Little Homeworld who stayed behind for most of the fight, seemed to be as shocked as the rest of them.

"I am, but you have no idea how much I wish I wasn't." Azurite told him, not seeing the point in lying anymore.

"Why couldn't you tell us? You didn't had to lie about yourself." Steven wanted to know.

Azurite opened his mouth to reply, but Pearl cut him off, "Now I understand why I had the feeling that I met you already. Your name is Azurite."

"I'm glad that you finally recognized me. I actually wondered if you're going to recognize me and how long it would take you." Azurite said with a roll of his eyes.

"Wait. You know him, Pearl?" Steven asked what was on everyone's mind.

"She does. She was there when they banished me from Homeworld." Azurite replied, before Pearl could answer. 

"You were banished? Why?" Steven asked, turning his glances between Azurite and Pearl, excepting an answer from any of them.

"I was different from the others. When I was made I was so innocent, friendly towards everyone, and naive, oh how naive I was back then. Before my banishment I was already treated like a scum by many gems. The ones who didn't, were avoiding me like I was some sort of plague. One day, I was told to come to the Diamonds, If if wasn't for Pink, I would probably get shattered by them." Azurite explained.

Steven sighed at his response, he actually could believe that diamonds would do something like that in the past, "Why couldn't..."

"Why couldn't I come here after seeing your message? Are you even listening to me? Everyone were okay with me wasting myself in some small ship, crying to myself because I was treated like a scum because I was different from the others. You were treating me well, only because I was pretending to be someone else." Azurite interrupted him.

"That's no..." Steven said, trying to reason with Azurite. Was he really thinking like that? Every gem was welcomed in Little Homeworld. No matter what kind of the gem they were. But also he couldn't blame him for thinking like that. 

"Yeah, sure. You'd despise me and see me a monster the moment you'd set your eyes on me. Just like on Homeworld before my banishment." Azurite interrupted him again, the tone of his voice was saying them that he was on the verge of breaking down. He tried to hid it from them, but he was not doing a job at doing it.

Steven looked at Spinel and Amethyst, "Let him go."

"Are you sure?" Amethyst wanted to be sure.

"Yes." Steven replied with a nod of his head.

Spinel and Amethyst did as they were told to. They let Azurite go off their grasp, before he stood up from the ground, and looked at Steven, wondering what was he going to say to him.

"Azurite. We can forget that this thing ever happened. You can start a new life here. Things have changed. I promise to you that It won't be like the last time. Just give it a chance, and I'll show that you don't have live alone in your ship anymore." Steven assured him as he extended his hand towards Azurite, even he attacked him and his friends, Steven could say that Azurite wasn't a bad gem.

Azurite took his hand, but instead of shaking it, he pushed it away, "It may be true, I've been called and felt like an outcast of the gems for my entire life. Things may have changed but I think that living among gems wouldn't just feel right to me after all this time.." He gave him a small smile, doing his best to not make it look forced, "Besides, I got used to being alone a long time ago."

After Azurite collected his things from the ground, and put them back on their places, he turned to leave and began to walk towards the exit from Little Homeworld, Steven asked him, "Where are you going to go, then?"

"I don't think you even care about it, but I heard that Saakar has a new champion. I've been wanting to see him for a while, now. I think I'll go there." Azurite answered, as he continued to walk away from them, wrapping his headscarf around his gem to cover it again, "I'm sorry that I took your time."

"Who's The Mad Titan?" Peridot asked about the person who was on her mind since Azurite mentioned him.

"You should ask the Diamonds. I'm suprised they haven't told you about him." Azurite said.

As Azurite disappeared from their view, Steven took a step forward, and looked at the gems, "I'll go talk with him."

The gems said nothing in response, they just nodded their heads to that, because they were excepting Steven to do something like that the moment Azurite declined his offer to stay in Little Homeworld.

"I'll go with you." Spinel spoke up, causing everyone to look at her, Steven just nodded his head at her. Azurite may have been acting like everything was okay, but he was hurting inside, and she knew how that felt. She knew how it is to be alone.

And with that, the both of them sprinted forward, they both had to be fast. They had to reach Azurite before he'd leave, and probably never look back.

* * *

Azurite sighed as his ship came into his view, he was about to walk inside of it, and leave this planet, and most likely never return to it, otherwise a situation would require of him to return there.

"Oh no..." He said to himself, bringing his hand upon his face, when he heard the sound of someone running towards him, which was getting louder with each second. When it finally stopped he said, knowing exactly who it was, "What do you want? I thought I said that I decline your offer!?" 

"Azurite, we just want to talk with you." Steven answered, knowing that he had pick the words very carefully in this situation. Depise, what Azurite did in the past hour, he wanted to help him.

"If you're going to break into a song, don't even try. This doesn't work on me." Azurite told him.

"We're not going to do it. As I said, we just want to talk with you." Steven assured him.

"About what?" Azurite asked.

Now it was Spinel's time to talk, "When I was in your ship, I saw the pictures on the wall..."

"Of course you saw them. They're pretty hard to miss." Azurite pointed out, crossing his arms. If he was honest with himself, he was kind of suprised that Spinel came here with Steven. The first moment they met each other, he attacked her and the others? Why would she come here with him?, "Besides, as I said, I've gotten used used to being alone. I've been alone in a small ship which as given to me by Pink Diamond for a few thousand years, before I finally decided to try have a normal life, and you know what? I've been at many planets in my life, on one of them I came across Rin, Karolyn and Aleena."

"You mean your family?" Spinel asked, as Azurite suddenly paused as she mentioned them.

"Why aren't you with them? Did something happened to them?" Steven asked him. What happened between Azurite and the people who he come to see as his family?

"... You really want to know what happened to them?" Azurite asked them after a moment of thinking what to say.

Spinel and Steven nodded their heads, knowing from Azurite's tone that it was not going to be a story with a happy ending.

Azurite sighed, before saying after a moment of silence that fell between them, "It seems like I'm not going to convice you to leave me alone without answering them, so If I answer these questions. Will you leave me alone?" He asked them, wanting to leave this place as fast as he could as Steven and Spinel nodded their heads in response, but it doesn't change the fact that they were going try to convice him to not leave, "Fine."

He gestured to them to follow him into his ship, and they did as they were told to. The three of them made their way into his ship, and Steven and Spinel followed Azurite to the three seats, which was were placed not too far from his "Memorial Wall".

"So, what do you want to know about me?" He asked, hoping to get through with this as soon as it was possible, so he could leave.

"This ship." Spinel started, as Steven and Azurite looked at her, "It looks awfully familiar to the one I was in one of the pictures. Is it the same?"

"It is the same. My friend Dragan gave it to me, oh how much I owe this guy." Azurite began, a small smile formed on his face as the thought of how much Dragan has done to him. He didn't if he would ever repay that debt, "I met him 5 years after Darnel passed out of the old age in his own bed, and offered me to take from Darnel's planet, and I accepted his offer, because after Darnel's death, there was nothing holding me back there. He's the one who taught me how to fight, and this ship was his final gift to me from him. He said to me that it was a gift of his gratefulness for helping him.''

"Helping him in what?" Steven wondered out loud.

"In getting his revenge on Gregor. A man that took everything from him. When they to take care of him finally came, I have to admit, it wasn a very hard night. I had to kill some of his people, but it wasn't much of problem to me, because I already killed people, before meeting him." Azurite answered.

"Why?" Steven asked with Spinel nodding her head, wanting to know why as well.

"Because on Darnel's and Freddy's planet. It's about survival, at any cost. When I landed there, I found out that it's filled with undead creatures, I thought that they were going to be my main worries, but I was wrong. They were the least of my worries. Sometimes the other people were much worse than them, but none of them could match **him**..." He stopped what his explanation when he mentioned someone who Steven and Spinel assumed to be The Mad Titan Azurite mentioned earlier.

"The Mad Titan?" Steven assumed, as Azurite's tone changed into more of darker one.

"Thanos. His real name is Thanos, and this guy... " Azurite paused for a moment, thinking of a way how to describe Thanos to them, "...He's like a plague. He invades planets, he takes what he wants and wipes out half of the population." 

His gaze went over to Steve and Spinel, both of them looking at him in silence at the either the revealtion of who the Mad Titan was, or the tone of his voice.

"Why..." Steve ntried to say, trying to figure out why Thanos would want to commit these things, "Why is he doing that?" 

"Because he is insane." Azurite's answer was quick, "He actually thinks that he is saving the universe by doing it. Dragan once said that every villain is a hero in his own mind, and this guy is a perfect example of it." 

"...What are the Infinity Stones? Why is he needing them so much?" Steven asked him another question, remembering that Azurite mentioned them when he mentioned The Mad Titan to him during their fight.

"The Collector. The guy who ordered to bring him a Pearl, a few years ago offered me a contract to find and bring him all of the Infinity Stones. It was when he explained to me what they were." Azurite began explaining, taking a small break between the sentences, "He said to me as I quote "_Before the creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existance, boom! And the remnants of these systems were forged into concetrated ingots. Each one of these Infinity Stone _each control an essential _aspect of existence. __Space, Reality, Power, Soul, Mind, and Time."_

"Did you accepted it? His contract about these stones?" Spinel asked what was on her and Steven's mind.

"No. There are some contracts that even I wouldn't take." Azurite replied with a shook of his head, still wondering who was that stupid to give the Collector one of the Infinity Stones.

"You said that Thanos needs those stones. He needs them for what?" Steven asked, knowing that he was not going to like the answer.

Azurite's expression hardened, as he sighed, "If gets all of them, he'll be able to erase half of the universe with a snap of his fingers." He explained, snapping his fingers to clarify his point, "Just like that. Half of all living all will disappear."

This was when his entire ship was overcame with completely silence. If Steve and Spinel weren't already shaken by who Thanos was and the atrocities he was committed, thinking that it was for the greater good made them just stare at the male gem as if something had frozen them into one place.

The silence lasted a few more moments before it was broken by Steven, "You seem to know about him."

"Gamora and Nebula are his adopted daughters. He took them in after cleansing their planets. He tried to pull them into his cult, but thankfully he failed. They told me everything I wanted to know about him." Azurite explained. He sighed, before he continued. Nebula and Gamora weren't the only Guardians who's planets were cleansed by the Mad Titan, "The same thing happened to Drax, but unlike them, he didn't lost his parents. He lost his wife and daughter." He added, remembering how Drax wasn't much fond of the idea of talking to a prisoner, but when he saw Azurite looking at the picture of the people who were close to him, he asked him who they were, and they ended up bonding over the people they lost, because of the same person.

"How is he doing now?" Steven wanted to know, knowing that losing family must've been hard for Drax.

"He's alright, now. He found a new family within Quill's crew." Azurite gave her a small smile in response. He was happy for Drax. The poor guy deserved it, but then some painful memories went through his head.

Azurite suddenly shook his head, rapidly. Noticing that something was suddenly off about Azurite, Steven put his hand on his, and asked him, "What's wrong? You know you can tell me."

"Konoritos was one of the planets that were a victim of the cleansing." Azurite answered, as some painful memories continued to fly through his head.

"Konoritos?" Steven asked.

Azurite clenched his fists, as he finally brought himself to say it, "A planet I used to live on. They people of this planet, treated me as one of their own, even though I wasn't a Zaran. I was actually something more than just the guy who now takes care of the people who pissed out wrong people for money. I had everything I wanted for my entire existance. Family, friends, acceptation for what I was. I had friends before I came there, but before that, I felt like something was missing. A single piece..." He stopped for a moment, wiping a single tear that fell down his right cheek. Steven and Spinel listened carefully to him.

Assuming, that Azurite wasn't going to say more of his story, Steven opened his mouth to speak, but Azurite continued, "This place was when I felt when I found this piece. I felt complete. I felt accepted for being what I am." He stood up from his seat and made his way over to his memorial wall, and took down one of the photos, "Let me show you this."

He made his way back to Steven and Spinel and showed them a photo of the people he used to call his family. Spinel eyed this picture carefully to everything he was saying, even though she already it, "I know that you saw it already, but let me show it to you, anyway. This is Rin, Karolyn and Aleena, and they were like a family to me. They took me in and treated me as if I was a member of their family." He explained, before adding with a chuckle, but it was more of bittersweet one, "She kept calling me uncle Az since I found her walking through the forest after I landed on this planet."

"What happened to them?" Steven asked, already knowing that he wasn't going to like this story. Something terrible must've happened to them that it made Azurite feel so much fear and hatred towards Thanos. He already had an idea of what happened to them, and he didn't like that.

Azurite opened his mouth to reply, but closed it a moment after, debating if he should have tell them this story or not. He suddenly felt someone put his hand on his. He looked down on his it and saw that it was Steven.

"It's okay. As I said, you can tell us. Take all time you need." He said, he and Spinel giving Azurite an encouraging nods.

"If you really want to know what happened, then let me tell you that story." Azurite began to tell them the story where he lost almost everything he cared about.

* * *

**I'm sorry if the fight scene is not the best, I'm still trying to improve that part in my writing, and I'm sorry if I got something wrong when it came to the gems fighting Azurite. This was my first time writing them fight, and I know it was really short, the next ones are going to be longer.**


	5. The Past

_Location: Konoritos  
_

_19 year earlier_

Azurite stood up from his crouching position, before looking to his right to see a young woman pointing an arrow at the animal which was not too far from them, "Okay, Aleena. You're doing fine, so far. Just relax, and shoot it when you'll think it's the right moment."

Aleena let out a deep breath, as she had her attention completely on her target. She closed her eyes, and quickly opened them again, which was followed by another deep breath before she loosened the arrow, which hit the animal in the neck, causing it to collaps on the ground, "I did it!"

"Great shot, kiddo." Azurite said, rubbing Aleena's head, as she smiled, enjoying it, "If you're going to keep improving you're going to make a great hunter."

"I have the best teacher." Aleena said back to him, as they began making their way towards the animal she just down in the neck, to see it slowly bleeding it, as the blood was pouring through it's wounded neck, "Alright, now the hard part."

Even though it wasn't the first animal she hunted with Azurite, she still was getting used to ending the animals life, once she made that it will not run away from them once they'll get close to it. She took her machete off her back, and aimed it right at it's neck, before lowering it down, ending it's life.

"Still getting used to it?" Azurite asked her, even though the answer was quite obvious to him.

"Yes. It's not as hard as it used to be, but, you know." Aleena answered.

"I know." Azurite replied, putting his hand on the shoulders, as his mind flew to the hunting trips he went along with Darnel, "It takes everyone to get used to it."

"Who is going to carry it?" Aleena wanted to know, as Azurite got his hand of her shoulder.

"I will. You did enough today." Azurite told her, as he picked the animal up, and wrapped it around his shoulders, with it's belly touching his the back of his head.

"If you say so, uncle Az." Aleena said with shrug of her shoulders, as the two of them began to head back to their city.

"Uncle Az? Aleena. You started calling me like that when you were twelve. Now, you're seventeen, don't you think you're a little too old for using that nickname?" Azurite asked.

"It doesn't matter to me. You'll always be uncle Az to me, no matter how old I'll be." Aleena said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Azurite chuckled, "Oh, I can only imagine how your kids are going to call me if they're mom is going to kept calling me Uncle Az."

"Kids?" Aleena asked, as her eyes shot open at his comment, "I'm only seventeen year old! It'll take me a long time to have them!"

"I'm just saying." Azurite told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You sound like my mom, right now." Aleena pointed out, a smirk growing on her face.

"I'll take that as the compliment, Little Al." Azurite said back, using the old nickname he came up to her a few years ago.

Aleena chuckled, before she opened her mouth to speak, but she suddenly stopped like her legs froze into the ground. Her eyes widened, as an expression of confusion grew on her face.

"Aleena, what's wrong?" Azurite wanted to know, noticing that something was going on with her.

"Look!" Aleena shouted, pointing up at the sky.

Wondering, what she meant by that, Azurite looked up and the view made him drop the animal on the ground, "What?"

They saw a huge warship, flying above the town where they lived. Their confusion quickly changed into shock and fear when they heard scream of Zarans coming from the city, which was followed by the sound of someone shooting a gun.

It was when they came to realization that someone came to invade their planet. Their home...

"Mom, dad..." Aleena said to herself, when she realized that her parents were in a big danger, as the large flying creatures that were known as the Leviathan began to leave the warship, which made only them even more terrified of what was happening.

"We need to hurry. We must find your parents." Azurite said to her, as she nodded her head as fast as they could.

They both began to run towards the city, with Azurite running in the front and Aleena following him closely. They had to be fast. They had to find Rin and Karylon before something terrible happened to them.

When they reached the point where they could see what was happening on the streets from the forest, they saw that the streets were in total chaos. Zarans were running away from the Chitauri, some of them ending up killed in the process, as for those avoided being killed by the invaders, some of them eventually got shot down by the Leviathans that were flying above the city.

Azurite and Aleena both knew that running through the streets was a death sentence for both of them, so they decided to take the side roads that were leading to their home. As if the road through the main streets was already a nightmare, the side roads weren't any better. They could cries for help of the Zarans, that could be someone they knew. They couldn't let those scream stop from the finding Rin and Karolyn which was their top priority now. They eventually had a pass a lifeless body of a Zaran, which only made them realize that the invaders didn't care if their victim was male or female, or if their victim was old, or young. Every Zaran that tried to fight back, or run away from them was killed, without any second thoughts.

Finally, a spark of relief and happiness went through their bodies when their house came into their view. Rin and Karolyn had to be there... or at least they hoped so.

However, those feelings were short lived when they saw that the entrance to their house was opened.

They quickly made their way to the doors, and walked inside the house.

The first thing they saw was a Chitauri, aiming his spear right at heavily wounded Rin, who was leaning against the wall with blood coming out of his body.

"Dad!" was the first thing that came out of Aleena's mouth, once she saw what was happening to her dad. She drew her machete out, and rushed towards the invader who turned around to her, but had no time to react as Aleena's machete penetrated his stomach. She screamed out in pain, dropping his spear on the floor, as his fells on his knees. She then pulled her weapon out of his stomach, before stabbing him again, this time, causing him to fell on the floor, right next to his spear.

Aleena then repeated this action, a few times, which eventually lead to the death of this invader, but it didn't stop her form stabbing his body, which continued for a few more seconds, before Azurite stopped her.

"Aleena. Stop, he's dead." He said, trying to stop her from massacring the lifeless body of a Chitauri.

"I'm sorry. I ju..." Aleena said, before noticing that her dad was still alive, "Dad! You're alive!"

"My baby girl..." Rin said, weakly, knowing that he didn't had much time left.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see me that way..." Aleena said, as tears began to stream down her cheeks like waterfall that her dad had to see do something like this.

"It's okay... Don't worry..." Rin assured her, as he turned to Azurite, "I'm happy that you're safe... both of you."

"Dad... Where's mom?" Aleena wanted to know.

Rin closed his eyes, and hung his head down, as he pointed to his right. Aleena and Azurite looked at this direction and saw the lifeless bloodied body of Karolyn.

"Mom..." Aleena said, this view making her cry even more than she already did.

"Karolyn..." Azurite muttered under his breath, as the woman that made him how it is to have a family was dead, and there was nothing he could to stop it.

"Azurite... Aleena..." Rin said, earning their attention as they looked at him, "I don't have much time left..."

"No. That's not true. We can patch you up!" Aleena said, even though she didn't believe in that herself.

"We both know that it's not true, little one..." Rin gave her a comforting smile, "It may be too late for me and Karolyn... but you two can still make it out of here..."

"Why are they doing this?" Aleena asked what was on her and Azurite's mind.

"I asked... him... that... all he said to me was that... it's for the greater good..." Rin answered, gesturing towards the body of the of the Chitauri which was killed by Aleena a moment ago.

"How is that for the greater good?" Azurite asked.

"I don't know... Azurite c'mere." Rin said, as Azurite leaned down, wanting to hear everything Rin had to say to him, "I'm glad we've met you, you are as much of a family to me as Karolyn and Aleena are..."

Azurite just nodded his head at his words, as Rin looked at Aleena, "And you... my baby girl... Me and your mother have always been proud of you... proud of the person you became..."

"Dad..." Aleena said, still not believing that it was happening.

"Azurite... Do you remember where your ship is..." Rin asked, even though the answer was quite obvious.

"Yes." Azurite nodded his head in response.

"Take her there... Use the upgrade you and your friend Shi'ra installed a year ago... and wait for this massacre to end... I love you Aleena, and I love you too Azurite, even though we're not related by blood... Please take care of my baby girl..." Rin said, what it seemed to be his last words to them.

Aleena nodded her head in understanding, as Rin closed his eyes, for the last time, "I love you too dad... I love you too..."

Azurite, who seemed like he was stopping himself from crying, whispered, "Goodbye, both of you. Thank you for everything. I promise I'll take care of your daughter."

He stood up from the floor, and put his hand on Aleena's shoulder, comfortingly, "Aleena. I know this is hard for you, but we must go. More of them may come here any second."

"I must be strong. It's what mom and dad would want." Aleena said, wiping tears off her cheeks, "I'll mourn them, once we'll be safe, both of us."

Azurite said nothing, just nodded his head to what Aleena said, as she stood up from her knees, and walked over to body of her mother. She carefully took the headscarf, her mother wore for most of the time, off her her head, and put it inside her pocket.

"Let's go, uncle Az." She said, as Azurite nodded his head. The duo made their way to the exit, and shared a look with each other.

With that, Azurite opened the doors, and they both of them rushed into streets, with Azurite leading and Aleena following closely behind him. They passed dozens of lifeless bodies of their friends and neighbours, but they knew they couldn't mourn their deaths, because they had to get out of this chaos as soon as it was possible. They eventually had to take care of the invaders that tried to attack them, or hide in the corners, when something flew above their heads, but they met a huge complication when a spear flew right next to Azurite's head. The person that threw it must've missed on purpose. He turned around, preparing himself for another fight, but he let his guard down when he noticed what was happening to Aleena at the current moment. She was pinned down to the ground by two Chitauri who probably used the fact that a spear flew right next to his head as an opportunity to take care of both of them.

It awoke something inside of him. He had to save Aleena from them. He promised Rin that he will keep her safe, even if it would cost his life!

"Don't you touch her!" He roared at both of them as he charged at them, intending to help Aleena, but in that rage. He didn't notice a woman who used this as an opportunity, and punched him in the back of his head, with the back of her spear, causing him to fall on the ground, his face facing the ground.

"Uncle Az!" Aleena called over to him, worried about him, trying to reach her hand to him, but the Chitauri that were pinning her down were too strong.

The woman that knocked him down, grabbed him and pushed him from the ground, and turned around, now his back was on the ground, and Azurite could see her face. Half of her face was painted black, and there were two horns protruded from her head.

Her name was Proxima Midnight.

"You're a gem. I thought all gems were female." She commented once she saw Azurite's gem on his forehead, as he was pinned down to the ground by three Chitauri's. He tried to free himself but he couldn't.

"Guess, they made one that's different." Azurite shot back, realizing that he was not going to free himself from their grasp.

"I see. You were different from the rest of them, that's why you're here." Proxima assumed, Azurite glared at her, which made her believe that what she said was true.

"Shut up." Azurite told her, as Proxima brought her spear against his forehead. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was going to happen, but much to his suprise, Proxima did nothing.

"I won't shatter you, or kill her. The fate will decide what is going to happen to both of you." She told him after a moment, as she pointed at one of the Chitauri that were pinning Aleena down, "You. Take her. I'll take care of him."

Proxima picked Azurite up and grabbed him by his shoulder and began walking forward herself, followed by a Chitauri who was dragging Aleena by her hand.

A moment later, they heard a male voice say, "The Great Titan thanks for your sacrifice!"

Ebony Maw walked over the bodies of the dead Zarans while the Chitauri were forming two groups of the Zarans that were still alive, at least for now. One on the left, the other on the right.

"Do not fear for what is to come, for in this cleansing, you shall be remembered!"

Proxima and a Chitauri made their way towards him, both of them still dragging Azurite and Aleena with them.

"In this dark time, the pain will be great..."

They both of them stopped in front of the crowds, and looked at the possible victims of the cleansing.

"...the loss even greater..."

Azurite and Aleena suddenly felt being pushed into the seperate crowds as Aleena brought her hand forward, towards Azurite, and shouted, "Uncle Az!"

Azurite did his best to reach her, but he couldn't. He was pushed into the crowd, immediately failing on his knees.

"But know...that now and forever more...you are all a part of the Children of Thanos!"

Azurite got himself back on his feet, with the help of one of the Zarans. He eyed the other crowd carefully, trying to see Aleena, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Aleena!" He called for her, but she never responded.

"Now go in peace, and meet your maker!" Ebony Maw finished his speech.

With that, the Chitauri that were making sure that no one escaped from the crowd where Aleena's was placed raised their weapons up, and a moment later began firing at the crowd, killing everyone.

As for the other crowd, the Chitauri just stood in their place, making sure that no one was going to leave the crowd.

Azurite and the surviving Zarans stood, most of them crying the names of the people that were in the other crowd. Azurite being one of them. They knew that their deaths were inevitable, and waited for the invaders to kill them.

Azurite was almost wishing for it. Some of the Zarans were wishing for it to happen too.

But it never did.

He failed them... He failed to keep Aleena safe... He failed to save the people who saw him as one of their own...

* * *

_Present_

"After that, I stayed on Konoritos for about a week, and helped to bury the bodies of the Zarans who weren't spared by them. The main reason why I left is because, I couldn't live there anymore. Being there, would remind me how the people who accepted me as one of their own, my friends, neighbours were murdered without any remorse, and there was nothing I could do to save them." Azurite finished his story.

Steven and Spinel, both completely speechless by what they just heard, stared at Azurite. Neither of the knew what to say to him.

Noticing their silence, Azurite gave a chuckle, but it was more of a sad one, instead of a happy one, as tears began fell down his cheeks, "You wanted to hear this story. Here you go."

Spinel could feel tears forming in her eyes. She and Azurite were both abandoned, but when he finally found a place to call home, and people who thought of him as a family, it all got taken away from him, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. She jumped up from her seat and rushed to him, before giving him the tightiest hug she ever gave to someone.

Azurite was suprised by her sudden movement, but eventually wrapped one arm around her, accepting her hug.

"Azurite..." Steven began, knowing that he has to pick words very carefully. He didn't knew what would he do if something like that happened to him. He couldn't actually imagine himself in a situation where his whole family, and friends were murdered and there would be nothing he could do to stop this from happening, "I'm sorry that it happened to you. I can't imagine what must've been going through your head after that happened."

"I completely isolated myself from other people after that happened. Shi'ra was the only person I talked with. She always there for me when I needed her. There were other people who I was talking to, but the only reason why I was talking with them was because I was doing a contract for them, like with The Collector. I'm sure that Aleena and her family, or even Darnel and Dragan would pity me when would see how I turned out. A guy who sits for most of the time in his ship, barely talks with the people he actually enjoys talking with, because he actually doesn't has that many of them these days, has to rob, and kill people for units, or sometimes, he doesn't even needs people to pay him to make him to do that. They just have to call him the way he doesn't like, because it reminds him of his days in Homeworld, before his banishment where everyone treated him like the worst scum." Azurite continued explaining, not even caring to hide the worst parts about himself, now. Steven and Spinel could feel the pain in his voice as those words were leaving his mouth.

"What about Quill's crew?" Steven continued to ask him more questions.

"After I met them, and helped them destroy Quill's father, they offered me a place in their crew, but I declined their offer. Believe me, I wanted to accept their offer, but I was afraid." Azurite responded, as Steven made a mental note about what he said about Quill's father. He was going to ask him this question later, because now there was no time for this.

"Afraid of what?" He wanted to know.

"Afraid of losing people. I know this may be selfish of me, but I'm afraid of getting close to other people. After what happened to Rin, Karolyn and Aleena, I'm afraid that it'll happen again. I want to be happy again... I want to have a feeling that I belong somewhere again... but I..." Azurite answered, wiping tears from his cheeks, not wanting them to see him cry.

"...Azurite. You don't have to live in fear anymore..." Steven said after a moment of debating what to say to him.

"What do you mean?" Azurite asked him.

"You don't have to live longer like that, anymore. My offer is still active. You can start opening up to others, and start a new life here, on Earth. You can be _happy _again." Steven offered him a place in Little Homeworld, again.

"Why are you offering me a place to live in your community? I just confessed to you that I killed people, because I wanted earn some extra units, or because they called me the way I didn't like. I just fought with you and your friends, so could kidnap a Pearl and take her to The Collector where she would become another on of his servants." Azurite pointed out all of the bad things he said about himself to these two.

"Many gems in Little Homeworld, did something in their lives that their not proud of, but they decided to leave it all behind and start a new life here, and it's working out for them. I'm not trying to force you, but I'm hoping you're going to give it a chance. Eveything is much different, now. It won't be like on Homeworld. I promise." Steven finished what was saying, him and Spinel giving him a comforting smiles.

Azurite sighed, before nodding his head, "...Fine. I'll give it a chance."


	6. Visiting Homeworld

Azurite couldn't remember the last time when he was that nervous as he walked through the streets of Little Homeworld, walking closely behind Steven and Spinel who he assumed were taking him to the gems he fought with just not that long ago. He could the eyes of the gems on him and he had to admit that it made him really uncomfortable since he wouldn't call himself a gem that likes to be in center of attention.

When they finally made their way to Steven's friends, he heard one of them say to Steven that he managed to convice Azurite to return, to which he told them that he'll explain them everythying. Azurite assumed that he was going to tell them everything he told him about Thanos. After that, he turned to him and Spinel, and told them that they'll be back in a few minutes.

Azurite just watched them leave, before looking for a place where he could sit, because he didn't want to stand for the whole time Steven was talking with them. He spotted a house that was nearby, and made his way towards it, before sitting down on the ground, leaning against the wall.

He just sat there, not paying attention to anything around him for a few moments, before Spinel walked over to him, and sat down, next to him.

"You know what was on my mind, Spinel?" He asked her after a moment, trying to start a conversation with her as Spinel hummed, showing him that she was listening to him, "If Steven was not there at the moment when It was revealed that I'm on one of you, after you made me unable to continue the fight, they'd all let me leave and never look back, not that I blame them for doing so." 

"Because, you were hurting, and I know how it feels. I know how it is to be alone." Spinel explained.

"What?" Azurite asked, suprised by the answer, "What happened to you?"

Spinel sighed, "You really want to know?"

"Well, I did told you my story, even though I didn't wanted to do it." Azurite pointed out.

Spinel nodded her head, as she began explaining everything to him. Starting with how Pink Diamond abandoned her for 6 thousand years, making her think that it was just a game, how she saw her Steven's message, how she went to Earth to take out her anger, and how it ended up with the Diamonds taking her to Homeworld, and when it seemed like she was doing much better now, they gave me an option. if she wanted to stay with them on Homeworld, or go and try to have a like on Earth. He already guessed that she choose the latter one.

Azurite, clearly suprised by what he just heard, debated what to say to her for a moment, before saying, "You know. Pink Diamond was the only Diamond that I respected, but I think that the respect I had her just became much lower. I rob, and kill people for money but leaving someone in a place for a thousands of years, telling her it just a game, makes me look a damn saint." He said as his mind was trying to process what he just heard. Was she really left alone in the garden for a few thousand years, and no one even bothered to take her from there?, "I'm sorry that it happened to you."

"That's why, If you're going to need a friend. You can count on me." Spinel said, giving him a pat on his back.

Azurite allowed himself to smile, which was something he wasn't doing often these days. It wasn't forced, it was just a genuine smile, of gratefulness "Thanks."

Spinel smiled back at him, and she opened her mouth to say something, but she paused for a moment when she saw Steven and the other gems heading their way, "Look. They're back."

Azurite turned towards the direction Spinel was gesturing to, and saw Steven, walking towards them with the gems by his side, "I think I should apologize to them for you know what." he stated.

"It's going to be a good start." Spinel said with a nod of her head, giving him an encouraging smile, as they stood up from the ground, and made their way over to Steven.

"I'm sorry for fighting with you. I hope we'll be able to forget that it ever happened." was the first Azurite said to Steven's friends. 

"As long as you don't try to do this again, we're going to be okay with you staying here." Pearl said. It was going to take a while for her to trust Azurite, especially that the main reason for him to come here was to take her, or one of the other Pearls to this collector guy.

"But if try to do this, again, we will fight with you again." Lapis added.

"I won't. I don't consider myself the smartest gem in history of our kind, but that I would have to be an idiot if I decided to try to do this contract again." Azurite stated.

"And, there's something else we want to know." Peridot asked, as they now focused their attention on Spinel, instead of Azurite.

"Spinel. What are you doing here? You didn't had time to tell us because of one incident." Pearl asked Spinel, sending a quick look to Azurite, which he didn't failed to notice.

"I wanted to try life on this planet. When the Diamonds saw that I was doing much better now, they gave me an two options, If want to stay on Homeworld, or if I want go to Earth. I choose the latter one." Spinel explained.

"The same goes for you Spinel. We trust you more than Azurite." Pearl said as Azurite just rolled his eyes at the last part, "But it doesn't mean that we're not going to be watchful of you."

"So, that means, we can stay, both of us?" Spinel asked, in a very hopeful tone. She understood why they were watchful of her, after everything she did two months ago.

"You can, both of you." Garnet answered, adjusting her visiors.

"So, what now? Should I get my ship from the forest, and place it somewhere closer to this place?" Azurite asked.

"I think there's someone you should talk with it." Steven answered, walking up to Azurite.

"Who?" Azurite asked him.

"I think you may already know who." Steven answered.

After a moment of trying to realize who Steven meant, and if he really should come there, Azurite answered, "Fine, but don't except me to call them "My Diamond" or show that I have a sheer of respect towards them." 

"Just don't do anything to anger them, okay?" Steven told him, noticing that Azurite was already regretting accepting to come to Homeworld.

"I'll do my best." Azurite said with a nod of his head, then thought to himself.

\-------

"_Why did I agreed to come here?_" Azurite thought to himself, immediately regretting his decision to come here the moment they warped themselves to Homeworld.

He could feel getting more nervous as Spinel and Steven began to lead him towards the throne room of the Diamonds. Normally, they would warp themselves immediately to their throne room, but Azurite insisted to warp them to some place, from which would they would take a walk to the Diamonds throne room, so he could prepare himself mentally for the talk with the Diamonds. 

As they continued walking, with him walking closely behind Spinel and Steven, Azurite could feel how some unpleasant memories he had from this place went through his mind.

_"Why are you so confused, defect?"_

_"Because, I don't understand. I don't understand why everyone is so mean..."_

Azurite just shook his head at this memories, causing Spinel and Steven to look at him, before Spinel spoke up, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Don't worry." Azurite said with a wave of his hand, doing his best not to think about the memories he had from this place.

A moment later, they arrived at the doors which as Azurite assumed to be the doors which were leading them straight to the throne room of the Diamonds.

"Just remember what I said, Azurite. Just don't do anything to anger them." Steven reminded him, knowing that there is a possibility that Azurite may let out his everything he's been having inside of him, just like he did when they found out about his real identify in Little Homeworld, but this time, it could be much more, considering that the Diamonds were the ones who banished him.

"I already told you that I'll do my best." Azurite assured him.

Steven nodded his head as he swung the door open, and when they were shut open, all of them could see the Diamonds, someone Azurite despised the most, at least until Thanos cleansed Konoritos. Yellow Pearl, Pink Pearl and Blue Pearl were also there, but Azurite didn't paid much attention to them.

"Steven! Spinel! It's great to see you two again." The voice who as Azurite recognized belonged to Yellow Diamond said as they walked into the room. She was clearly happy to see them again.

"Have you two decided to stay here with us?" Now this voice belonged to Blue Diamond. She was happy to see them as well. 

"No." Steven answered, as Spinel nodded her head, showing the Diamonds that it wasn't the reason she came here as well.

"There's someone we want you to meet." She added, as they both stepped aside, revealing Azurite who stood behind them..

"Ain't that the Azurite we banished?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"Yeah. That's me. I'm actually suprised that you remember me." Azurite stated, noticing that all of the Diamonds were clearly suprised to see him again.

"What is he doing here?" White Diamond asked after a moment of silence.

"He came to Earth, at first he was hiding from us what he truly was, but we eventually found out about his real identify with Spinel's help. We offered him a place in Little Homeworld, and after some convicing he decided to try a life on Earth." Steven explained. Azurite noticed that this kid completely cut out the part where he fought with them and the fact that he came to Earth to kidnap one of the Pearls.

"Steven, Spinel. Do you know what he is?" White Diamond asked them both, as Azurite clenched his fists in anger.

"I know. I don't care what he is. He is a gem as much as Spinel and your Pearls are, and he shouldn't be treated differently than the rest of them only because he is different." Steven told them.

"I'm really suprised to see him here with you." Yellow Diamond stated, after a moment of thinking what to say next.

"Why?" Spinel asked.

"It just, we weren't excepting to see him again." Blue Diamond explained.

"Because you excepted me to shatter myself?" Azurite asked. He knew that he promised Steven to keep his cool, but he couldn't hold that inside of himself any minute longer. He knew that it may end up with him getting shattered but he didn't care about that at this moment. He wanted them to know what he had to say about all of the years of banishment. He wanted to get that out of his chest.

"Azurite..." Steven tried to say something but was interrupted by Azurite.

"No. I've been holding it inside my chest for a few thousand of years now. If they really have changed, just like everyone have been told, then they're going to listen what a gem that they banished only because he was made the way they didn't like has to say to them." Azurite cut him off, then he sighed, before turning his attention to the Diamonds, ''You three have no idea how I felt for all those years. I hated myself for the way I made, because everyone else did. I cried to myself. You have no idea how much time I spent debating if I should just shatter myself. There was even time when I even wanted to make all of you feel how I felt during all of these years, but that phase is long gone. But you know something? I may despise all three of you, but I don't hate you. You want to know why? Because I met someone far worse than all of you, and you may already know him. His name is Thanos." 

The Diamonds suddenly seemed to be taken aback in the moment he mentioned Thanos. All of them suprised by the fact that Azurite knew about Thanos.

"...Thanos?" Blue was the first Diamond to say something after a moment of silence. She seemed to be... afraid of him? At least one of the Diamonds was afraid of him? That was something Azurite wasn't excepting to see.

"That brute." Yellow said after her. Her calling someone a brute? Talk about hypocrisy...

"How do you know about him?" White Diamond asked what was on their minds.

"Let's just say that I had a close encounter with his troops on the planet that I used to live on when they cleansed it. Almost twenty years ago." Azurite answered.

"You had an ecounter with his troops when they cleansed a planet and survived?" Blue Diamond asked.

"I was put in the crowd that survived." Azurite answered, as Steven and Spinel looked down sadly, already knowing it from the story Azurite told them. He sighed, before thinking to himself, "_But if I was able to switch places with Aleena, which would result in her surviving, and me dying in the process. I would do it, gladly._"

Azurite's response, didn't got much answer from the Diamonds. White and Yellow just remained silent, as Blue let out an "Oh".

Azurite sighed before he continued, "After I left my planet, I isolated myself from everyone else, but at the same time, I tried to find out who was leading this invasion, it was when I found out who he was, but it raised even more questions, but I got an answer to all of them, after I came across Gamora and Nebula."

Steven and Spinel were listening carefully to everything Azurite was saying. They were aware that Azurite didn't told them everything, and they could learn something more about him, now.

"Gamora? Nebula?" Blue Diamond asked, already knowing who these two were.

"You mean his daughters?" Yellow Diamond asked, even though the answer was quite obvious to her. She just wanted to be sure.

"Yes. They're not as bad as people say they are when you get to know them." Azurite said, then added, "And If you knew about Thanos, then did you knew about Ego as well?"

"Ego? The Celestial?" White Diamond asked. That was the only Ego that came into her mind. She was really suprised that when Yellow and Blue informed him that he was destroyed a few years ago, but they all never really got the answer who was responsible for it.

"That one." Azurite confirmed it with a nod of his head.

"We were aware of his existance." Yellow Diamond said.

"Why are you asking us about him?" White Diamond wanted to know.

"Because I helped Quill's and his crew destroy him." Azurite's answer was short and quick, "And I don't regret being a part of it. He deserved that, after everything he's done."

"I guess that explains to us the mystery of Ego's death." Blue Diamond stated, after a moment.

Azurite then turned back to Spinel and Steven, "Alright. That's all I had to say. If you want to talk with them, go ahead. I'll be waiting for you by the warp."

"Azurite. There's warp here." Spinel told him, pointing at the warp in this room.

"I'll take a walk." Azurite answered, as he came out of the room.

"Steven. Spinel. Are you sure that?" Yellow Diamond asked them, once Azurite was out of their sight.

"Yes. I know he may not give you the best impression now, but he just wants to belong me somewhere. He just wants to be accepted for what he is." Steven explained.

"Alright. We'll trust you on this." Blue Diamond told them both.

"But if he causes you two some trouble, just inform us about it." White Diamond added.

Steven and Spinel just nodded their heads at them, before Steven turned towards the exit, "We should probably head out now. We just came here so to let you know that Azurite is going to be living with us on Earth, so you would knew about him."

The Diamonds nodded their heads in understanding, before Steven and Spinel said their goodbyes to them, before they went out of the room, a moment after, they eventually catched up to him.

All three of them made their way back to the warp, where they saw someone Steven knew very well. This someone was a familiar orange gem.

"Jasper?" He asked, clearly suprised to see her there, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going with you. I'm going to be living on Earth." She said, quickly, it sounded really, really forced, which they didn't fail to notice.

"What?" Steven asked.

"Let's just go and don't talk about it." Jasper told him, before sending a quick look at Azurite, noticing a gem on his forehead. 

Steven said nothing in response. This was very suprising to him, because Jasper was one of the gems he never excepted to see go to Earth, again. Then, they all got into the warp, before they warped themselves back to Earth.

"Let me guess, they made you go to Earth?" Azurite asked Jasper, a moment after they warped themselves back to Earth, trying to be friendly, even though his experience with Jaspers wasn't a good one.

After all, if he was really going o start a new life on this planet, he should start by making some friends, right?

"Something like that. I've been on Earth before, but now I want to see what can be so special in this planet, that makes so many gems leave Homeworld, so they could live on it." Jasper responded with a shrug of her shoulders. Her experiences with this planet weren't the best, but she could finally give it a shot, even though she was practically forcing herself to do that.

"I guess, we're going to be trying a life on that planet at the same time." Azurite told her.

"Oh, great. Now I'm going to be living on it with a defect." Jasper said, gesturing towards Azurite's gem on his forehead.

"...Call me a defect one more time and I'll shatter you." Azurite said, his tone changing into a more and threating one. He was trying to be friendly to her!

"I'd like to see you try." Jasper said back.

"Jasper. Don't call Azurite a defect. He is a gem as much you, or Spinel are. And you Azurite, I know you're not a fan of this name, but you shouldn't threaten anyone who calls you like that." Steven lectured them both.

Jasper rolled her eyes, as Azurite said, "Fine, but don't except to be nice to anyone who call me defective or corrupted."

Steven sighed, before the four of them began to make their way towards Little Homeworld.

A Spinel who was been abandoned by his mom, which made her take out her anger and him and his friends, once she found out about that.

A Jasper that is one of the gems that aren't a fan of him.

And a Azurite, who happens to be the only male gem in existance, who was banished from Homeworld, for being different from the others.

All of them were going to be learning how to live on Earth at the same time. 

This was going to be interesting...


	7. Roommates

Azurite had to admit. Their return to Earth was quite eventful. At first, Steven brought him, Spinel and Jasper back to Little Homeworld, and while the gems weren't suprised to see the both, they all were suprised to see Jasper with them. Everyone except for Garnet, who had as stoic expression as ever. What got his attention when Steven announced that Jasper is going to be staying in Little Homeworld as well were Lapis' and Peridot's expressions. He could easily tell that these two, especially Lapis had some history with her, and it certaintly wasn't a pleasant one.

Then he had went back into the forest to get his ship and took it to the back side of Little Homeworld. For what purpose they made this space to be empty? Maybe they were planning to bring some ships to this planet? Azurite had no idea and didn't care about it. As long as his ship was safe, he was okay with it. 

As for this moment, Steven and the gems walked out of the house which they showed them him, Jasper and Spinel.

Azurite and Jasper both weren't fan of the idea of sharing house with someone, and it actually took some time for them to convice them to stay in the same house.

''I still can't believe that I'm going to be staying on this planet, but there's no way I'm going to share my house with you." Jasper said to Spinel and Azurite.

"Same here. I agreed to his offer to give myself a chance to start a new life on this planet, but he never said to me that I'm going to be roommates with the gems that I barely know." He said. He had nothing against Spinel, he even formed a sympathy towards her after he heard what happened to her, and despise his bad experiences with Jaspers, he didn't know how to feel about his other possible roommate, but living in the same house with the gems he barely know would get him some time to get used to, considering that there were days when he didn't talk with anyone.

"What about you?" Jasper asked.

"I'm okay with it." Spinel responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

"At least you're okay with it." Azurite said, as he walked up to the staircase, and began walking up the stairs, "I'm going to choose my room. You should choose one too."

As he walked up the stairs, and began walked towards one of the room, he could hear that Spinel and Jasper did as he told them to, and went to choose their room as well. This house had four big rooms, but it didn't took Azurite that long to choose one for himself. When Steven and the rest were showing them off this house, one room caught Azurite's attention. It wasn't the biggest one, or the smallest one, it was something in the middle of these two, and he liked that.

"This one is taken!" He shouted to Jasper and Spinel, before shutting the doors behind him. He walked over to the commode and took his... Aleena's machete off his back and gently put in on it. His hand then reached to his back, before taking his hooks off his back, and placing it on the commode next to Aleena's machete. It didn't took that long until his glove joined these two things on the furniture.

He stretched his arms in both sides, before walking over to his new bed. He laid down on it and tried to make himself comfortable. He had to admit that. This bed was very comfortable, and if he was going to sleep on it, which was most likely going to happen sooner or later, because he very enjoyed sleeping, it would be a good sleep. For the next 30 minutes, he just layed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He even considered if he should call Shi'ra or the Guardians and tell them about what happened today, but he quickly declined that idea.

Then an idea of what he should do came into his mind, which resulted in him finally standing up from his bed. He made his way out of his room, and walked down the stairs towards the exit.

"Hey, Azurite!" He heard Spinel call his name.

"Yes, Spinel?" He asked her.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I'm going to head to my ship. There is a chance that my stay here won't be temporary, but I feel like I should bring my things to my room." Azurite explained.

"Do you need any help?" Spinel offered.

Azurite sighed, but nodded his head, "Sure."

Spinel then turned to Jasper, "Are you coming with us?"

"If he is going to let me see his ship." Jasper replied. Azurite's ship was one of the things on her mind since she saw him land it in Little Homeworld. It looked very old, but at the same time

"Well, I'm going to bring my things from my ship to my room, so yes." Azurite pointed out.

"Then, I'm coming with you." Jasper said, as she joined two of her roommates by the door, before the three of them walked out and headed along the streets of Little Homeworld. Nothing much happened during their walk to his ship, they only got a few looks from the gems that lived there.

A few minutes later, they made it to Azurite's ship, and Jasper stated, as she was looking at it, "It looks old." .

"Because it is old. It was a gift from Azurite's friend." Spinel explained.

"I owe so much to the guy that gave it to me." Azurite added, as the device opened on his hand. He knew that his ship had a button which was opening it, but he barely used it. He always prefered using the device on his hand. The entrance to his ship was lowered itself down on the ground.

"Where is he now?" Jasper asked, as they began walking into Azurite's ship.

"Dead. He passed out of the old age a long time ago." Azurite explained, as they stopped by his memorial wall, then he pointed at Dragan's photo, "I know that you probably don't care, but this is how he looked like."

Jasper looked at the picture of Dragan and it suprised her a bit to see how this man looked like. He looked exactly like a human from this planet, but the thing that got her attention the most was the fact that Dragan's face was covered with nasty scars.

"I was actually going to ask you if Dragan was a human, because he looked like one." Spinel spoke up.

"He wasn't from this planet. He was born and raised on a planet called Pontropis. People of this planet looked like humans. It is hard to find them now people from this planet now, because when it ran out of resources that kept them alive, they had to abandon their home. Dragan and his friends were one of the lucky ones." Azurite explained, then he looked to his right where Jasper stood, "I know that you came here only to see my ship, and you may think of me as a defect, but can take those pictures of the wall and take them to our house, if you want to."

It took a moment for Jasper to reply. She sighed, before replying, "Sure."

Azurite nodded his head at her, as Jasper reached her hand and took one of the pictures off the wall, as Spinel and Azurite walked towards Azurite's room, and when they walked into it, Spinel wasn't actually suprised to see that Azurite didn't had many things inside his room.

"I don't have many things, so we should be very quick with this one." He told her as they split up around the room. The first thing that Spinel took was an old drawing which she assumed to be drawn by Aleena, and it showed her and Azurite holding hands. 

There was something written under it. It said.

"I love you, Uncle Az :D"

Spinel sighed sadly as she continued to stare at the drawing, knowing what happened to Aleena and her family, as she continued to pick things up from their places. The next thing she took was a device which looked like a camera that humans used to take pictures. This thing also had something written on it.

"A gift from Darnel to Azurite."

This time, a small smile formed on her face once she read what was written there as she proceeded to pick another thing up. After a moment, she was carrying five things, and was done with her part, she glanced over at Azurite, and saw him staring at a very old small figure made of wood.

_"Hey, gem friend!" Freddy's voice went through Azurite's head._

_"Yes, Freddy?" Azurite asked, turning his attention towards Freddy._

_"I made you something." Freddy explained as Azurite walked towards him, wondering what was he going to show him. _

_"Freddy. It's nice. I appreciate it, but we just met a few hours ago." Azurite pointed out, confused by the fact that Freddy just gave him this small figure._

_"I don't care about it Azurite. We're now fighting off a huge horde of the undead in this forest, and anyone who helps me fight off a horde of the undead is a brother to me." Freddy explained with a wave of his hand, as Azurite hesitantly took the figure from him._

_"...Thank you." Azurite said in a very grateful tone._

Azurite smiled at the memory of Freddy giving him this figure and calling him his brother, even though they barely knew each other, but his smile quickly faded when he remembered that it was an hour before Freddy died and he and Darnel couldn't do nothing but to stare at it.

"Are you alright?" Spinel asked him.

"Yes. I just lost myself in my thoughts." Azurite quickly replied, as she turned to see. She just like her was carrying five things, "I'm done with my part. You?"

"Same." Spinel answered with a nod of her head.

"Then, let's go to Jasper." Azurite said as they both went back to Jasper to see her, but also there was someone else in there, and when he saw them, one thought went through his mind, "_How many Nephrites live here?_" 

He cleared his throat, causing all of them to look at him, "Jasper. What are they doing here?"

"They said that want to see your ship. They said it'll be quick, so I let them in." Jasper explained.

"Oh." Azurite said in response.

"I'm hope that you won't be angry at us for entering your ship. I used to be a captain of a ship, and it's been a while since I saw someone using a ship that old before, and after seeing it, I can easily that you're taking care of it very well." Nephrite said.

"Thanks. I'm doing what I can to keep it alive." Azurite thanked her for the compliment with a bow of his head, "This ship means a lot to me. There is a very few situations, where I would leave it behind." 

"Let me guess, Thanos is one of them." Spinel guessed with a small shiver at the mention of the guy Azurite told her about as Azurite nodded his head in agreement.

"Thanos?" Jasper asked. She never heard that name before. Nephrite along with two other Nephrites that came here with her seemed to be as curious as she was, "Who is he?"

"Is that The Mad Titan you mentioned when you left Little Homeworld? After you, Spinel and Steven left to Homeworld, I asked Pearl if you explained Steven who he is, because she along with the others, maybe except for Garnet but that's normal with her, seemed pretty disturbed by what Steven just told them, even though they weren't showing it before you left, and all they said that they'll tell us later who he is." Nephrite added. The two other Nephrites nodding their heads at her words.

"...I spoke about him too many times today and I don't want to repeat myself. if you want to know ask Spinel." Azurite told them aftter a moment as quickly walked out of his ship, trying to get to his home.

"Aren't you going to close your ship?" Jasper asked him.

"Spinel knows where the button is! She'll know how to close it!" Azurite responded, as he proceeded to walk away from his ship.

Spinel, Jasper and three Nephrites walked out of Azurite's ship, not long after him. Spinel pressed the same button she used to open it when she arrived to this planet, as she heard Nephrite ask her, "Spinel. You were there when Azurite explained to Steven who The Mad Titain is. Can you explain to us who he is?"

"All I can say about him is that he is a very unpleasant person." Spinel as she turned to Jasper, "Did you saw the picture which is saying _"My family"_?"

Jasper went through Azurite's photos, until she showed Spinel, and Nephrites the picture of Rin, Karolyn and Aleena, "This one?"

"Yes. He'd be with them now if it wasn't for him." Spinel answered. Her answer wasn't straight forward, but it already gave the other four gems idea of what happened to them, then Spinel looked at Nephrite, "If they told you that they're going tell you later who he is, then you should wait for it. Azurite himself called him a plague."

Nephrite just nodded her at that, as her two comrades shivered a bit at what Spinel just told them. Jasper just stared at them, curious about what she just said.

"Then, I'll wait for them to tell us." Nephrite said with a nod of her head.

Spinel just nodded her head back at her, before they parted ways. Nephrite along with her two comrades went in their own direction as Jasper and Spinel began to make their way towards their new house.

When they returned to their house, they went to Azurite's room and saw him sitting on his bed, with all of the things he took from his ship already placed on some places in his room. Spinel offered him if she should help him in setting down his room, and he accepted her offer. Even Jasper, even though it seemed a bit forced to her agreed to help them.

About thirty minutes later, they were done with setting down his new room, and Spinel let out a chuckle when Jasper left his room, leaving them two alone in there.

"What?" He asked, looking down at Spinel.

"This little tree. He's just so adorable." Spinel said, pointing at the picture of Quill's crew.

"You mean Groot? You're right he is." Azurite agreed with her, a hint of smile appearing on his face, "But he's not that small tree anymore. He is now going through rebellious teenager phase."

"How bad it is?" Spinel wanted to know.

"When I was talking with Gamora through the video chat, Quill suddenly came up to her and told him that Groot kicked him out of his room after he told him to clean it up." Azurite answered.

"Oh." Spinel laughed at it.

"Yeah. I had the same reaction." Azurite told her, as he then looked at his bed, "Spinel? Can you leave? I want to go to sleep."

"Sleep? You know that gems don't have to do that?" Spinel asked him.

"I know, but I just like doing that." Azurite explained.

Spinel nodded her head in understanding as she opened the doors, and walked out of Azurite's room, "Then, I'll see you in a few hours. Goodnight you, Azzie!" she told him, before shutting the doors behind her.

"Yeah. Night to you too." Azurite said before walking towards his new bed. He closed his eyes, and was hoping to fall asleep as fast as he could, to end this very long day, but then something came into into his mind, "Wait... Azzie?"


	8. The Start of a New Life?

_Azurite didn't know where he was, or what was happening. He found himself levitating in a black endless place, which was replaced after a minute of two with a huge battlefield. There was a huge warship flying above it. He immediately recognized this ship. It was when Thanos' cleansed Konoritos. It was Sanctuary 2._

_He levitated above the battlefield, noticing many people he didn't knew, but he stopped in the moment when he was himself swinging his arms around into the nearest Outriders, as Shi'ra stood proudly by his side, slicing every down Outrider and Chitauri that rushed at her down with her spear._

_However, Shi'ra wasn't the only person he knew that was present on this battlefield. Most of The Guardians of the Galaxy were there as well. Azurite also noticed Gamora wasn't standing by their side. She actually was nowhere to be seen, and he didn't know why._

_Suddenly, he found himself levitating in a black space, once again, only difference from the last time was a small field which showed him, Shi'ra and The Guardians fighting off their enemies, which became invisible for some reason, then all of them stopped, like something terrible had happened, and it made them stop fighting. _

_An idea of what could have happened appeared in his mind when Mantis disintegrated into ash right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do. He reached his hand down at the place where she just stood a moment ago, causing him to levitate down on the field._

_He touched her ashes, but he couldn't feel them. He was like an ghost, and he cursed himself mentally for not realizing it sooner._

_As if the situation wasn't bad enough, he looked around himself to see Drax, slowly turning into ash as well, which was followed by Quill and Groot slowly sharing the same fate as Mantis and Drax did._

_He watched how he, Shi'ra and Rocket couldn't do nothing about it but stare in horror at what was happening in front of them, as the scenery has once again changed into the same battlefield as before.   
_

_All of them were staring at person that stood in front of them. In front of them stood The Mad Titan himself and all four members of Black Order stood proudly by his side.  
_

_There was one more thing that Azurite noticed about Thanos. All of the Infinity Stones were shining in the golden gauntlet which was on right hand._

Azurite woke up with a gasp as he sat straight up on his bed, breathing heavilly. It was actually a while since he had a nightmare like that. It must've been caused by yesterday events when he had to bring up Thanos' name several times, which included him telling Steven and Spinel what happened on Konoritos.

When he finally calmed himself down, he got off his bed, and moved across his new house, and stopped until he saw Spinel and Jasper.

"Morning to you two." He greeted them, rubbing his eyelids.

"Hi, Azzie!" Spinel greeted him back, "How was your sleep?"

Azurite's mind flew to the nightmare he had, before replying, "It was nice. Sleeping is refreshing. You should try it, both of you." 

"I think I'll pass. I like being aware all the time." Jasper said back.

"Your loss then." Azurite said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Then, there was a knock on the doors, as Spinel said, "It must be Steven. He came here about thirty minutes ago, but I told him that you were sleeping."

Spinel made her way over to the doors, and opened them, revealing Steven, "Azurite. You're awake! How was your sleep?"

"It was good. The bed in my room is really comfortable." Azurite's answer was short and quick.

After Azurite answered to Steven's question, Steven took him, Jasper and Spinel out of their house and began to lead them through the streets of Little Homeworld, and Azurite had to admit that to himself, it wasn't actually as bad as he thought it'll be, all he got was some weird looks from some of the gems they were passing. He also could hear Steven telling them about how the life is different these days and how everyone is now safe to explore their dreams, but he didn't paid much attention to that.

They finally stopped when Steven took them to first exercise he was planning to show them first. It was something related to art, and Vidalia who was the human Azurite met yesterday, when he was pretending to someone else, was the one who runs this thing. He recognized some of the there. There was Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl, and even a Pearl he hasn't seen before. From her looks, he could assume that her name was Orange Pearl. There was also a Jasper who he called in his head Rainbow Jasper because whole body was covered in different colors attending it, and when he saw another Nephrite he hasn't seen, yet, it made him once again wonder how many of them actually lived here.

"Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl? Weren't they in Homeworld, like yesterday?" He asked, looking at Steven.

"They just like coming here. Blue Pearl likes to draw and Yellow Pearl likes to be a model." Steven explained, then added, gesturing at Orange Pearl, "And Orange Pearl got here a week ago, she is trying to find something for herself."

"Yondu! You're still here? I saw your ship last night, so I assumed that you left." Vidalia said, as they approached her.

"His name is not Yondu. It's Azurite. He's a gem. And he was moving his ship to Little Homeworld." Steven explained.

"Oh, I thought that all gems were girls." Vidalia said, after a moment of silence, glancing over at Azurite.

"I'm the special case, I guess." Azurite said, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't angry at this, because he had a feeling that he was going to hear that a lot from the citizens of Beach City.

"It just makes me wonder why you lied about your real name, when you came here.'' Vidalia wanted to know.

"The reason why I used fake name was because I wasn't planning to stay here for that long, but this guy here conviced me to give living here a chance, so here I am, now." Azurite explained, pointing at Steven.

"Why am I not suprised that Steven conviced you." Vidalia smiled at Steven, before looking at Azurite, Spinel and Jasper, "C'mon, pick a seat."

"Alright. I just have to warn you that I'm talentless in this area." Azurite said to Vidalia, before he, Spinel and Jasper took their seats. Him and Jasper were doing their best to show that they would like to do something else than drawning at this moment.

Even Steven decided to join them in this exercise as he took a seat as well.

Azurite then looked at Yellow Pearl who was giving him weird looks, probably because of the things he said a day earlier to the Diamonds about Thanos, or him having his part in the death of Ego, or him being a male gem, "What?" he asked her.

"Nothing." She quickly answered.

For the next several minutes, Azurite, Spinel, Jasper, Steven and the gems who attend this exercise were drawing Yellow Pearl in complete silence. Vidalia was eventually giving them tips how to improve their skills, and it was mostly to Azurite and Jasper.

"So, what are you going to wear on Halloween?" Steven asked, wanting to start a conversation.

"Halloween?" Azurite and Jasper asked at the same time, which caused to share a quick look with each other.

"Halloween is a human holiday, when we dress each other as something scary, or something else, whichever you want and have fun." Steven explained what Halloween is to Azurite and Jasper.

Rainbow Jasper, Nephrite and Orange Pearl all said that they didn't think about it, yet, while Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl stated that they don't know if they're going to be on the Earth that day. Azurite, Jasper and Spinel remained silent about that, because they just found out what Halloween is.

"What about you, Spinel? You could dress up as Grim Reaper, you already even have a scythe." Steven said said to Spinel. Spinel told him that she got another scythe from the Diamonds, about two weeks after they took her to Homeworld, when they were catching up to Azurite after he left the throne room of the Diamonds after he had a talk with them.

"A what now?" Azurite asked, as he looked at Spinel, who took a scythe out of the gem in her chest, "Wait... you had that for the whole time?" 

Spinel nodded her head in confirmation, "The former version of it which was destroyed by Steven. I got this version two weeks after the Diamonds took me to Homeworld."

"So, you had this for the whole time and didn't even use it after I started fighting with you?" Azurite wanted to know, as Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl, Jasper and Vidalia looked over at him. What fight? Orange Pearl, Nephrite and Rainbow Jasper weren't that suprised by what he just said because they saw him fight Steven and his friends.

"I didn't think that I was going to need it, considering that you were going against all of us." Spinel answered, rubbing the back of her head, "And we still had some difficulty in defeating you."

"I knew that I was going to lose the fight the moment I used my glove to form myst around you. After all, you had this kid here on your side, but I fought with you anyway because I knew there no backing down from it." Azurite explained.

"Where did you get that glove, anyway? I don't think that even Homeworld has something like that in it's stock." Steven asked him, hoping that it'll help him learn more about Azurite, than he already knew.

"I got it from Quill and Gamora, and it was a part of my birthday gift from Quill's crew. Those hooks I've been carrying with myself were a part of this gift too. I got it from Drax. And yes, I know that gems don't celebrate birthdays, but Quill who I'm certain was the one who came up with it, and still decided to do it even though I told him that I don't celebrate birthdays, but it just Quill being Quill." Azurite explained, but then he mentioned someone Spinel and Steven never heard him mention before, "I celebrated some birthdays with him, like Quill's or Drax's. I wasn't confused about how birthdays work, because before I met them, I and Dragan celebrated birthdays with Sydney, Osgar and Lambert."

"Sydney, Osgar and Lambert?" Spinel asked. Azurite didn't mention them before. He didn't even had their picture on his memorial wall.

"I and Dragan used to hang out with them for a few years, I think. I didn't had their picture on my memorial wall, because It was lost several years ago." Azurite explained.

"How did they go? Those birthdays." Spinel asked him.

"_Dragan, Azurite, guys, there's something I need to tell you something." The sound of one of Dragan's friends sounded in Azurite's head at Jasper's question._

"_What is it, Sydney?_" _Dragan asked, in a very drunk tonee. Azurite and Dragan came across Sydney not long after Dragan made sure that Gregor was not going to be walking on this world anymore. While Azurite wasn't as close to him as he was with Dragan, he enjoyed his company._

"_You and your gem here, can be a real son of a bitches, but I love you both._" _Sydney's voice seemed to as drunk as Dragan's._

"_And you're a douche, but, I'd jump into a fire just to save. C'mere brother._" _Dragan said, standing up from his seat. His elbow __touched his glass, which then fell on the ground,__ and the sound of it shattering rang through their ears. Dragan didn't care about it as he and Sydney shared a tight hug with each other._

_"Guys. This was one of the most emotional moments I've witnessed in my entire life._" _Azurite stated, wiping a tear from his right cheek._

"...They were really nice." Azurite said with a nod of his head.

"Who taught you to fight like that?" Orange Pearl spoke up for the first time since this art exercise began. She hid in one of the houses when she heard the real reason why Azurite came here, but in didn't change the fact that she was the entire fight throught the window.

"The same guy I mentioned a few times in the last several minutes. I owe Dragan so much, and I wish I could've done much more to him. At least, the last thing I could do for him when he passed out was burning his body and and spilling his ashes on the planet where he was born." Azurite answered.

"And who taught him to fight like that?" Orange Pearl seemed to be genuinely curious about that.

"A friend of his, her name was Michelle, I think." Azurite answered. Michelle died about a year before Azurite and Dragan came across each other, and he never really found out how Michelle died. 

About thirty minutes later, this exercise was slowly coming to an end and all of them were showing their drawings to Vidalia. While most of them, even Spinel did a pretty good job at drawing Yellow Pearl, Jasper's and Azurite's drawing weren't very good.

As the exercise was over, Steven said his goodbye to Vidalia, and began to take them to another exercise

"So you fought Steven and all of his friends?" Jasper whispered to Azurite.

"Yes, and for most of the time, I wasn't even trying." Azurite told her. He wasn't having much trouble for most of the fight, until Lapis picked him up in her water powers before he used his myst forming glove on her.

It was when he realized that this fight was slowly coming to an end, and it did, but it ended much differently that he thought it'll end.

"You wasn't trying?" Jasper asked him.

"Yes. There are many things that I'm not good at, but hand-in-hand combat is one of the things that I'm really good at." Azurite told her.

"If you're that good at that, then how about we spar with each other?" Jasper asked him.

"Sounds good to me. We can try it now if you want to." Azurite said.

"Now?" Jasper asked him.

Azurite just nodded his head, as he continued to walk by her side, not paying attention to her.

"I see you already doing a mistake. You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." Jasper told him, as she threw a punch at Azurite's direction, and he grabbed her arm and twisted it to the other side, which suprised Jasper because Azurite wasn't paying any attention to her a second before. He wrapped his legs around her neck and flipped her over onto her back.

As Azurite got himself back on his feet, which was followed by Jasper who also got herself back on her feet, and she couldn't help but feel embarassed by what just happened, he could notice everyone staring at him. He didn't notice anything interesting about their expressions, except for Orange Pearl who had her mouth wide open for a few seconds, before whispering something to herself.

"Wow." Was what she said, which Azurite failed to hear.

"What is going on?" Lapis asked, confused as she landed in front of them. 

"It's nothing, Lapis. Azurite was just showing off, right?" Steven said to Lapis, sending Azurite and Jasper a quick glance.

"Yeah. I was just showing off to my roommate." Azurite said with a nod of his head.

Lapis just nodded her head to that, before sending Azurite and Jasper a look which said "I'm watching you", before flying off.

"So, Steven." Spinel said, once Lapis was gone, "Where are we going now?"

"To Pearl. She is going to teach you about Earth's technology." Steven explained.

"You got lucky." Jasper whispered to Azurite, as Steven began to lead them to another thing he was planning to show them, once again.

"If you say so, we can spar one day to see who's better." Azurite whispered back to her.

"Yes. It would be nice." Jasper whispered to him.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Steven was showing Azurite, Jasper and Spinel all the exercises they could do in Little Homeworld, and while there some that Azurite didn't enjoyed, he actually found a few that he may actually attend from time to time. Like the yoga exercise which was run by Garnet, and it was actually one of the not many exercises, which he, Jasper and Spinel all enjoyed doing.

He was even sure that Shi'ra would enjoy this exercise.

At the end of the day, Steven walked all three of them to their house, and when Spinel said her goodbye to him, she walked Azurite to his room, who told him that he'll be there if they needed him in something.

"So, Azzie? How did you enjoy this day?" He asked her as they walked into his room.

"It was nice, I guess. There are some exercises in this place that I actually enjoyed." Azurite answered, "How about you?"

"Same here." Spinel said with a nod of her head, as Azurite sat down on his bed.

"Spinel? Why did you had a scythe with you? Didn't you tell me that you were created for entertaining Pink Diamond?" Azurite asked her.

"Just between us, the Diamonds didn't want me to have another scythe, after the last was destroyed by Steven, but I eventually conviced them to give me one, because they were giving me everything I wanted. As for my other scythe, Pink Diamond gave it to me, because she wanted me to protect myself with it, if I would need to defend myself." Spinel explained.

Azurite nodded his head, as he thought to himself, "_Guess that explains to me how she defeated Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl so easily in her story._"

Spinel smiled at him, "Hey, Azzie. Have you ever tried juggling?"

"No. Why?" Azurite seemed to be suprised by the sudden question.

Three balls suddenly appeared on her hands, "Then how I teach you how to do it."

"...What?" Azurite was thinking that she was joking.

"C'mon, try it." Spinel encouraged him, pushing the balls closer to him, 

"Spinel, I don't think this is a good idea." Azurite shook his head.

"C'mon. I won't laugh at you, I promise." Spinel gave him an encouraging smile.

"You're not going to let go, until I agree?" Azurite asked her, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yup." Spinel confirmed his words with a smile.

"...I can't believe I'm doing this." Azurite said, standing up from his bed, then he took all three balls from her, before throwing one of them in the air, _"If, Drax or Shi'ra or Rocket would see me do it, I would probably die of embarrassment."_

As Azurite threw another ball in the air, it didn't last long before both of balls fell on the ground. He repeated this action a few times, and with each try, he and Spinel could say that he was getting better at it, and when it seemed like he was finally getting hang of it, his device on his hand opened, which made him drop all of the balls in panic, that someone except Spinel may see him do it.

"Azurite!" He immediately recognized this voice. It was Shi'ra, 

"Shi'ra! How long has it been since we talked? A week?" Azurite asked her, trying to hide the fact that he was nervous, but was not doing a good job at it.

"A week and a half." Shi'ra corrected, before pointing out, "Why are you so nervous?"

"I'm not." Azurite shook his head.

"Your voice says otherwise." Shi'ra pointed out.

"If you say so?" Azurite said, as Spinel came to his side.

"Azurite, is that Shi'ra?" She asked him, recognizing that it was the huntress from the picture Azurite mentioned a few times. But, there was one thing different about her. And that thing was the fact that her right hand was a metallic denture. She must've lost her real arm.

"Yes. It is Shi'ra." Azurite confirmed who it was to Shi'ra.

"Well, then it's nice to meet you, Shi'ra!" Spinel said to Shi'ra.

"It's nice to meet you too." Shi'ra said with a nod of her head.

"Hey, Spinel, can you leave us two alone. I want to talk with Shi'ra in private." Azurite said to Spinel.

"Sure thing, Azzie! I'll see you later!" Spinel said as she moved over to the doors to Azurite's and opened them.

"Azzie?" Shi'ra chuckled as Spinel shut the door behind her, leaving Azurite and Shi'ra to talk with each other in private.

"She came up with it." Azurite said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Azurite? Who was that?" Shi'ra asked him.

"That was Spinel. My roommate." Azurite answered.

"Roommate? The last time we talked you didn't say anything about having a roommate." Shi'ra pointed out.

"Because it's a fresh thing and I'm not in my ship." Azurite explained, as he waved his hand around, to show Shi'ra where he actually was.

_"_I could actually realize that before you told me about that." Shi'ra smiled at him before asking, "Where is that, by the way? I want to know so I could pay you a visit, when I'll be able to."

"I live In Little Homeworld. On Earth." Azurite answered.

"...You're living where?" Shi'ra asked, rubbing her left right ear, wanting to be sure if she didn't misheard it. Azurite was living among gems?!

"In Little Homeworld, on Earth." Azurite repeated himself, "I decided to give it a try." 

"Decided?" Shi'ra asked,

"It took this kid some time to convice me, but I eventually decided to give it a try." Azurite explained.

"What made you come to this planet in the first place? Because something tells that you didn't decide to suddenly come to the place where the people who banished you for being different from the rest of them live." Shi'ra stated.

"I was in the need of units, and I got a message from The Collector to come to Knowhere, then he gave a contract which would reward me with 1 millions units if brought him a Pearl, so she could serve him. I wouldn't normally agree to do that, but I was in the need of units." Azurite explained.

"Which name did you pick to hide who you really are? Because I highly doubt you told them your real name because it would be quite suspicious if a guy wth gem name came to their place." Shi'ra pointed out.

"You're probably not going to like this..." Azurite said as Shi'ra waited for him to answer, "I told that my name is Yondu."

"Yondu? Quill would kill you if he found out." Shi'ra stated.

"I know. I regretted picking this name the moment I used it to introduce myself to them." Azurite agreed with her.

"You know, if you were in a need of units, you could have just asked. I would borrow you all the units you needed." Shi'ra pointed out.

"I'd have to return it you, so I would need them anyway." Azurite pointed out.

"Point taken._"_ Shi'ra said, nodding her head in understanding, "So... I should get going now. We'll talk later, right?"

"Of course. Talking with you is always a pleasure." Azurite smiled at her.

Shi'ra smiled back at him and put her hand on her heart, and said, "Your words are warming my heart." before ending her conversation with Azurite.

Then, he looked over at his bed, and decided to lay down on it for a bit.

His first day in Little Homeworld was... quite nice, maybe except for some weird looks from some of the gems, but overall, it was a pretty good day.

But he knew that he couldn't distract himself. He knew that Thanos was still out there, and that he had to be ready for the day when the Mad Titian'll be ready to gather all of the Infinity Stones.


	9. Halloween

"Uh, Spinel... Why are you wearing that?" Azurite asked Spinel, as Jasper who stood by his side nodded her head.

This day started off as many other days for him since he decided to give living on this planet a chance, but when he saw Spinel in a costume, he knew that something was going on today. He knew that he had the answer somewhere in his head, but looking for it would probably take him more time than asking her.

"Don't you remember? Halloween is today!" Spinel answered, as she was dressed as the Grim Reaper. With her scythe she looked truly scary.

"...Oh... right I forgot." Azurite said, rubbing the back of his head, as he reminded himself that Steven mentioned this holiday, when they were spending their time on this drawing exercise.

"Yeah, me too." Jasper said. It was this day. Nothing was going to make her wear a costume. Nothing.

"So, what about you? What are you going to wear?" Spinel asked Azurite and Jasper.

"...I don't have to change my clothes because I'm already dressed as a Ravager." Azurite answered, after a moment of thinking what to say to her, gesturing towards his red jacket.

"A what now?" Spinel asked him with a raised brow.

"A group of an interstellar crime syndicate comprising of thieves, smugglers, criminals, bandits, mercenaries, bounty hunters and pirates. There are nearly one hundred factions of Ravagers around the universe. Quill used to be a part of them before the formation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I liked his jacket, so I started wearing the same one as he does." Azurite explained.

"...How many?" Spinel was clearly suprised by the number of factions.

"Over one hundred. I've come across one of them ten years ago, when the Diamonds sent me on a mission." Jasper answered.

Spinel nodded her head in understanding, with a smile, before turning towards Jasper, "What about you Jassie? What are you going to wear?"

"I'm not wearing anything." Jasper quickly answered, cringing because Spinel used the nickname she came up for her, which she hated.

"Are you sure?" Spinel asked her.

"Yes." Jasper confirmed it.

"But are you sure, sure?" Spinel continued to ask her.

"...Yes." Jasper repeated herself, growing annoyed by Spinel's questions.

"Okay." Spinel said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Your loss."

"Whatever." Jasper replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"So, what do you guys think about my costume? Do I look scary?" Spinel asked, as she made a scary pose, trying to look scary to Azurite and Jasper.

"You may scare some people with it." Azurite answered.

"But not you?' Spinel asked him.

"Yes. After the things I've seen after leaving my ship, like the undead horde of skeletons on Darnel's and Freddy's planet, it's hard to scare me." Azurite told her.

'What about you, Jassie? Do I look scary to you?" Spinel asked Jasper, turning towards he said gem.

"I'm not scared easily." Jasper replied.

"I'll take that as no." Spinel answered, as she looked down.

"You still have time to scare someone, everyone is going to be celebrating this holiday." Azurite pointed out.

"You're right Azzie!" Spinel's eyes brightened up as she moved to the doors, "Let's go out, guys. I heard that funland has opened a new attraction which involes making people and gems afraid. It is called Haunted House or something like that."

"Funland?" Azurite asked her.

"Wait, you haven't been in funland before?" Spinel asked, taking quick glances between Jasper and Azurite.

"No." Azurite and Jasper answered at the same time, which caused them to share a quick look with each other. For most of their time on Earth, since they came here, they stayed in Little Homeworld, minding their own things.

"Then you're going with me!" Spinel told them, extending her both of her hands towards them, after putting her scythe inside her gem. She grabbed Azurite and Jasper both and took them out of their house, suprising both gems, mostly Jasper by how strong she was. Spinel let go off their hands, and took her scythe out as they began walking through the streets of Little Homeworld.

As they proceeded to walk through the streets, Azurite could see how the houses and streets were decorated to look more scary than they usually do. He also saw that numerous gems were dressed in various costumes. Some of them even stopped by to complement them, mostly Spinel because she was the only one from the three of them who wasn't wearing the same clothes as usual, for which the pink gem was grateful while Azurite and Jasper didn't care about it that much.

Several minutes later they finally made their way to this "Funland", and one of the things that came into their view before entering it was a bowl that was filled with candy. There was also a note before it, which said "_Take one"_.

Upon seeing this, Spinel immediately took one candy from the bowl, and ate it.

Azurite shrugged his shoulders, and took one too. He had to admit. The taste of it this candy was nice, very nice, "What about you? You're not trying it?" He asked Jasper as he looked at her.

"I never tried any food." Jasper told him.

"Then try it. It feels weird at first, but it's a enjoyable process." Azurite said to her.

Even though she was a bit hesitant about it, Jasper slowly walked over to the bowl and took one candy out of it. She peeled back the silvery lining, before bringing the candy to her mouth. She eyed it for a moment, and put it in her mouth. At first, the taste wasn't nothing special, but after a few bites, she could feel a very sweat taste in her whole mouth, "...I like it."

"See, I told you." Azurite said.

"Let's go, guys! We have a night of fun ahead of us!" Spinel said, as entered the Funland area, Azurite and Jasper followed her, even though they'd rather be in Little Homeworld, but if they were learning how to live on this planet, then they had to give this place a chance, right?

The first that they went to inside the haunted house and when they came out of it, they could easily say that their experience with it was rather disappointing. The only part that took them off the guard for a second was the part when some weird sponge hit Jasper in the face and they had to stop her from tearing it down from the ceiling.

"Well, I'm disappointed." Spinel said, disappointed by how this place tried to scare them but failed miserably.

"Was that place supposed to scare us? If yes then even those two beetles from Little Homeworld would make a better job at doing it than this place." Jasper stated.

"My exceptations were low and I'm still disappointed." Azurite agreed with them.

Spinel then opened her mouth, and was about to say something, but then she heard a familiar voice call over for them, "Spinel! Jasper! Azurite!"

The trio of gems turned in the direction of the voice and saw Steven who was dressed in a cat-like costume. There was another human was with him. A girl who seemed to be about his age.

The thing that got Azurite's attention was the fact that Steven was dressed as a cat, or something similiar to that.

"_A person that stopped the Diamonds dressed as a cat, I can only imagine how much people like the Whitebound brothers would pay me to see that._" He thought to himself, before quickly shaking his head at the thought of three brothers who were one of the people who were giving him contracts.

"Steven! I thought you were going to dress up as that superhero with shield you told me about. After all you both use shields and even have the same name." Spinel pointed out, as Steven and the other human approached them.

"I was dressed as Captain America last year. When it comes to my Halloween costumes, I'm trying have different one each year." Steven explained as Spinel nodded her head in understanding, then he looked at the human by his side, "You remember Connie, right?"

Spinel nodded her head as Steven looked at Azurite, "And, Connie this gem here is Azurite."

"So, you're the male gem Steven told me about?" Connie asked Azurite.

"As you can see." Azurite answered, trying to figure out who this "Connie" was, "And you are... I'm sorry I don't know who you are."

"This is Connie. She's my best friend." Steven introduced Connie to Azurite.

"Well, then. It's to meet you." Azurite said as he extended his hand to Connie, trying not to make it look awkward. She smiled at him as she shook his hand.

"So, that's a nice costume, Spinel." Steven said to Spinel, once Azurite and Connie shook their hands.

"Thank you." Spinel thanked him with a smile.

"What about you two?" Steven asked, as he turned to Jasper and Azurite.

"I'm not wearing any ridiculous suit." Jasper quickly answered.

"I'm dressed as the Ravager." Azurite explained.

"But, you're wearing these clothes everyday." Steven pointed out.

"See, kid. That's the magic of my clothes, people may consider me a Ravager, even though one of my closest experiences with them was when they tied me up to chair after some guy named Taserface took over their crew." Azurite said, holding back a chuckle. No matter how many days passed, this guy name was still one of the most hilarious things he came across in his entire life.

"Taserface? Are you for real?" Spinel looked like she was stopping herself from bursting into laughter. Steven and Connie seemed to be stopping themselves from bursting into laughter as well. Even Jasper chuckled at that.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Did he shot tasers out of his face?" Spinel wanted to know the reason why this guy had such a ridiculous name.

"No. For him it was metaphorical. It was supposed to strike fear into the hearts of anyone who hears it, but it only made people laugh. Just imagine, I and Rocket are tied up to a chairs, and Groot in locked in a cage above us, and this guy tells us his name, and we burst in laughter while being in his custody." Azurite answered.

"I can only imagine how angry he must've been at you." Spinel assumed, chuckling.

"Oh, he was, believe me he was." Azurite said, cutting the part of the story where Taserface was blown up with the ship after Groot with the help of Kraglin got Yondu's fin, which allowed him, Rocket and Yondu escape from their imprisonment.

"How angry?" Spinel wanted to know.

"Very, angry, very." Azurite explained, trying to hide another detail from this story. That detail was the fact that Taserface drew his knife and was seconds away from killing Rocket, if it was for Nebula.

Spinel laughed, before looking over at Steven, "It was nice talking to you, but we should get going."

"One more thing, Spinel. When we were passing by, we saw you walk out of the Haunted House. Can you tell us, if Is it worth going there?" Steven then asked them.

"No!" Spinel answered, loudly, very loudly.

"It's a waste of time. My exceptations were low and I was still disappointed." Azurite added.

"Same here." Jasper added her part as well.

Steven and Connie both seemed to be taken aback by Spinel's scream, nodded their heads. The two groups said goodbye's to each other before parting ways to do whatever they had planned for tonight.

For the next few hours, Azurite, Jasper and Spinel were doing whatever they came up with. Well, Azurite and Jasper didn't really cared what they were going to do, so they just came along with everything that Spinel came up with.

When they finally came to their house, Azurite said his goodnights to both of his roommates, before making his way to his room.

As he laid down on his bed, and was about to close his eyes, a familiar sound rang through his ears. He just received a message from someone.

He opened his device to see who just sent him this message.

It was from Shi'ra.

"_Hey Azurite. What would say if I visited you in the next week? I think I found a way how to make our ships faster than they already are._"


	10. Shi'ra

Azurite was accompanied by a rare feeling for him when he woke up from this slumber. When he woke up and knew that it was going to be a good day. Why? Because today was the day when Shi'ra was going to pay him a visit, and it would be the first time he saw her in person in a few months.

When he finally received a message that she's nearing Little Homeworld, he left his house, and was followed by Spinel and Jasper. Spinel was looking forward towards meeting Shi'ra and Jasper used her "I have nothing else to do" excuse, and Azurite didn't know if she meant it, or she wanted to go with them. He didn't care about it that much, because he had more important things to think about now.

A few minutes later, Shi'ra's ship came into their view, as she flew down to the landing spot which, next to the place where Azurite placed his ship, after Steven and Spinel conviced him to stay on this planet. The front door of the ship opened itself and Shi'ra came out of it, looking around her for a moment, before spotting Azurite who stood in a small crowd of gems that formed around the place.

Spinel was eyeing Azurite's friend since the moment she saw her walk out of the ship. She could finally how Shi'ra looked in person. She has seen her before on the picture, or when Shi'ra and Azurite shared a conversation with each other, but now it was the first time when she actually saw her in person.

Shi'ra looked almost the same as she did in the picture. She had white skin and her long black hair which was tied into a very long pony-tail was failing down her back. A good portion of her body her body was covered by a clothing which had elements of armor on it. The thing that stood out the most for her and all of ther gems was the fact that Shi'ra had the fact that her right hand was a metallic denture. She knew about that, but it still made her wonder how Shi'ra lost her real arm. Another thing that got her attention was that Shi'ra wasn't as small as she thought she'll be. She also had a spear on her back, and a strange thing on her shoulder. It was a gun, or something like that. Spinel didn't know. She was going to ask her about that later.

"Shi'ra!" Azurite said, as he walked over to her, a smile growing on his normally stoic face.

"Azurite, you old bastard!" Shi'ra said. A smile began to grow on her face as well as Azurite stopped in front of her and they eyed each other for a moment.

"I can see why these two are friends." Nephrite whispered to Spinel, as she was one of the gems that decided to come over to what was going on, and saw that Shi'ra just like Azurite was using a very old ship.

"Didn't he said that she's small? She's as tall as him!" Jasper pointed out.

"You've gotten fat." Azurite stated, after a moment of eyeing Shi'ra.

"Oh, you're still trying to figure out how to make good jokes." Shi'ra retorted, shaking her head.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter, and embracing each other tightly,

"It's so good to see again you in person." Shi'ra said, releasing Azurite from the hug.

"Same here. How long has it been? Three months?" Azurite nodded his head.

"Four." Shi'ra corrected him, as they slowly walked over to Spinel, Jasper and other gems, "You must be Spinel.''

Spinel nodded her head, "It's nice to see finally meet you in person!"

"The feeling is mutual." Shi'ra said to the pink gem with a small bow, before looking over at Jasper, assuming that this was other gem that Azurite mentioned in their talks, "And you are Jasper I presume."

"Yes." Jasper's confirmed as Shi'ra had a short laugh when she thought of something she found funny, "What?"

"Oh, nothing, I just thought of something." Shi'ra answered.

"Care to share?" Jasper wanted to why Shi'ra just laughed, because she assumed that it was related to her.

"Maybe later." Shi'ra said, as she excused herself, before going through the crowd of the gems, so she could have a good look at the surroudings. Then she glanced at Azurite, "So, Little Homeworld. This is where you've been staying for a few weeks, now?"

"Yeah." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head.

"How is it, so far?" Shi'ra asked him.

"I'm still here, am I?" Azurite answered, "So, it's okay, I guess."

"Well, then." Shi'ra stared at Azurite for a moment, before smile grew on her face as she wrapped her arm around him, "Show me your place, pal."

"Sure thing." Azurite chuckled as he began to lead her to his house, her hand still wrapped around him. He turned around to Spinel and Jasper for a moment, "You two are coming?"

Jasper and Spinel shared a look with each other, before following Azurite and Shi'ra into their house. As they were walking closely behind Azurite and Shi'ra, they heard their roommate whisper to his friend, "So, Shi'ra. Why did you laughed after Jasper introduced herself to you?"

''I laughed because she looks like a woman that Drax would be attraced to." Shi'ra whispered back. She wasn't as close with the Guardians as Azurite was, but they hang out a few times.

Azurite chuckled at that, "You're right."

Jasper was about to make a comment about that, but she felt her other roommate extend her hand and touch her shoulders. She looked down at her, and saw Spinel who was looking at her with expression that said, "_Don't._"

Jasper sighed, deciding to let this go, for now, as they proceeded to walk towards their home. When they finally made their way to their home, Azurite took Shi'ra for a small trip around the house, starting with his room. Spinel even joined them in this trip, and offered to show Shi'ra her room, which the huntresses accepted. Shi'ra had to admit. Spinel had some really nice things, especially the things she crafted in her free time. Even Azurite had to admit that. While Spinel wasn't the best at this when she started off on their first day in Little Homeworld, she was getting better with each day. She even made asmall figure of him and gave it you to him as a suprise gift, for which he was grateful. The trip around their house ended in Jasper's room, even though she didn't really want to show Shi'ra her room, because she didn't had much in there. Only a few things she took from Homeworld, and a few things she got here on Earth.

When they were done with their trip, they heard Shi'ra ask them, "That's a nice house you got yourself here, but now can you show me a place where I can get some good food? I haven't eaten anything today."

* * *

Several minutes later, Azurite, Shi'ra, Spinel and Jasper walked into Fish Stew Pizza. Azurite didn't had many choices to recommend because Fish Stew Pizza was the only place where he had a meal on this planet. Spinel also recommended this place to Shi'ra, so he at least knew that he was taking his good friend to a good place.

''So, that's the place where they serve this pizza thing you mentioned?" Shi'ra asked, looking around herself.

"Yeah. I ate here only once, but the food here is good, at least by my standards." Azurite said with shrug of his shoulders.

"I would also recommend a place where they sell donuts, but we can have those for deserts." Spinel said.

"A desert, sounds nice. We can have those after our meal, if you want to." Shi'ra said. She didn't really mind having a desert after this pizza thing they serve here.

When they took their seats, they were approached by a small gem Azurite remembered from earlier, when he was here with Steven, "Oh it's you again."

"Hi, Green Larimar." Spinel greeted the small gem.

"Hey, Spinel. What can I offer you today?" Green Larimar asked.

"I'll have the same pizza as usual." Spinel answered. She was here a few times since she started living on Earth, and already had her favourite pizza from the menu.

"What about you Azurite?" Green Larimar asked, turning towards Azurite

"...Do you remember my order when I was here with Steven?" Azurite asked her, after a moment.

"When we didn't know you were a gem?" Green Larimar wanted to be sure.

"Yes..." Azurite answered, then sighed and added, "Do you remember what my order was?"

"I do." Green Larimar confirmed with a nod of her head, "Do you want to order the same pizza?"

"Yes." Azurite said with a nod of of his head.

"Okay, then." Green Larimar said, writing Azurite's order down, before looking over at Jasper and Shi'ra, "What about you two?"

"I'll have the same as Azurite." Shi'ra said.

"And I..." Jasper stopped in the middle of sentence. She never was here, so she didn't know what to take, she didn't even knew if she was going to eat it, but Shi'ra came to her rescue.

"She'll have the same as me and Azurite." Shi'ra answered for Jasper, sending her a smile.

"Alright. I'll bring the food once it's done." Green Larimar said, as she began to head into the kitchen.

"Oh, and remember that fish needs to be cooked!" Azurite reminded her, not wanting to get pizza with raw food again.

"Don't worry! Bixbite taught us a lot since you were here with Steven!" Green Larimar said, before disappearing from their view as she walked into the kitchen.

"Raw fish?" Shi'ra asked.

"Forget about it." Azurite said.

"If you say so." Shi'ra said with a shrug of her shoulders, then there was a silence for a moment or two. She was trying to figure out what to say next, "So... this place seems nice so far. It seems like it's not like it was in Homeworld."

"You know that I would leave if it was like in Homeworld. In my first days here, I've been receiving some weird looks from the gems in Little Homeworld, but now they seem to be okay with me, even though I never spoke a word with most of them." Azurite said, remembering that he told Shi'ra about his experience with Homeworld on the night they met.

"I just want to be sure. I'm sorry if I don't want my best friend to live in a place where everyone treats him like trash." Shi'ra said.

"Best friend? What are you ten?" Azurite asked her, then the duo shared an awkward silence with each other, "Should we have matching bracelets now?"

"Forget it." Shi'ra quickly declined this idea.

"You know, you can make each other some. There's a place in Little Homeworld when gems can craft their own things." Spinel said.

"I have an idea. How about we just wait for our food, and don't talk?" Shi'ra asked.

When Spinel was about to say something, all of them heard that someone walked in Fish Stew Pizza. All four of them looked to see who it was and saw Steven and Amethyst.

"Steven Universe. The kid that stopped the Diamonds." Shi'ra said as formally as she could, before thinking to herself, "_Loved by many, but also considered naive by many._"

"You must be Shi'ra." Steven said

"That's right." Shi'ra said, extending her hand towards him, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I never thought I'll met you in person."

Steven shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you two. Azurite told me some things about you."

"Really? What things?" Shi'ra asked, turning her attention towards Azurite.

"That you're his closest friend." Steven answered.

Shi'ra sent Azurite a smile, before turning her attention towards Amethyst, "And who you are?"

"Amethyst. Nice to meet you, when you sent Azurite a message to that you're to visit him, he came to us and asked if that'll be okay. I can tell you two are close." Amethyst answered.

"We are close. I love him." Shi'ra said without any seconds thoughts about the last part, as Azurite nodded his head to that.

"...So, you're together? I thought you were just friends." Amethyst said the first thing that came into her mind after hearing Shi'ra's answer.

"What? No! We're not together. He's a like brother to me. He was there for me when I needed him, and I'm here for him whenever he needs me." Shi'ra corrected her, shaking her head. She and Azurite already gotted used to questions like that a long time ago.

"That's right. She's the best sister I could ever ask for." Azurite said with a nod of his head.

"And he's the best brother I could ever ask for." Shi'ra said, then asked, "Are you two are going to stand? Take a seat and join us."

Steven and Amethyst both accepted Shi'ra offer. They took seats from the nearby table and joined Azurite, Jasper, Shi'ra and Spinel by the table.

"So, what is your spieces? I've seen never anyone like you before." Amethyst asked.

"I'm a Kratai. My people are known across the universe for being one of the best hunters you can ever come across, I'd probably be one too, if they didn't cast me out for being smaller than other females of my species." Shi'ra answered.

"Small? How are you small? You're as tall as Azurite." Jasper asked what was on her mind since she saw Shi'ra in person.

"I'm small because when it comes for the females of my spieces, they're tall, really tall. I was supposed to be taller than you, but I'm not and now here I am." Shi'ra explained.

"But why would they banish you?" Steven asked.

"Because they think that children who are affected by the disease that makes them smaller than others are cursed, even though it was proven to be bullshit, but old habits die hard, I guess." Shi'ra answered.

"Did you ever thought about visiting your home planet?" Steven asked another question.

"Did I ever thought about visiting Koarat? No, and I'm going to stay away from them for the rest of my days. Azurite, or the Guardians treated me better than my own people for my whole life. Shi'ra answered.

"Pizza coming up!" Green Larimar's voice came through their ears, as she walked out of the kitchen, holding two trays with pizza on it.

"Hey, Green Larimar, how are you and Nephrite doing in this job?" Steven asked as Green Larimar approached their table.

"We're doing much better now. Bixbite learned us a lot since we came here from Homeworld little over a months ago." She explained, putting the pizza's on the table.

"At least pizza doesn't have raw fish on it." Azurite said, eyeing his pizza, as he placed it in front of himself. Spinel did the same wit hers.

"Your pizza'll be ready in a moment." Green Larimar said to Shi'ra and Jasper, as she went back to the kitchen, and returned with Shi'ra and Jasper's meal a minute later.

Azurite and Spinel dug into their meals the moment they got them, while Shi'ra and Jasper were a bit hesitant about it because they never tried a pizza before. They eventually took a bite, and could easily say that they liked it.

"Hey, Shi'ra, Azzie. You know what question is on my mind?" Spinel asked, before taking a bite of her meal.

"No." Shi'ra and Azurite replied at the same time.

"How did you two met?" Spinel wanted to know. It's been on her mind for a while now, but she never got the occasion to ask Azurite about that.

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing." Steven said as Amethyst nodded her head in agreement.

"Well..." Shi'ra said as she looked at Azurite, silently asking him if she can tell shrugged his shoulders, telling to do whatever she wanted and she nodded her head to that, "It all started in a bar on a planet called Tarok..."

* * *

_26 years ago_

_Location: Tarok_

_Azurite sighed as he walked into the local bar on a planet called Tarok. He quickly made his way to the bar, wanting to avoid talking with other people_ _, even though he knew that the possibility was rather low because people were coming here to get drunk, mostly._

_He took a seat, and as the bartender walked over to him, "What can I get for you?"_

_"Something nice, and cheap." Azurite answered._

_"Coming right up." The bartender told him, as he took a glass and poured him a drink._

_"Here's the money." Azurite said to as threw some units on the counter._

_"So... What are you doing here, pal? I've never seen you here before." The bartender asked him, handing him his drink._

_Azurite sighed as he took a sip of his drink, before replying, "I just came here to clear my mind."_

_"Clear your mind? In a bar full of people of all kinds?" The bartender asked, pretending to be suprised._

_"Drinks helps me ignore them, even though I drink only once in a while." Azurite shrugged his shoulders._

_"Oh, I know that buddy. I work here." The bartender chuckled as Azurite just sent him a smile in response, "I guess I leave you to it. If you need to talk with anyone, I'm here."_

_"Whatever." Azurite said as The bartender left him alone. He raised his glass and took a small ship of his drink, before he could feel someone break their glass on the table and standing up angrily from their seat, "Oh, great. I just came here and there are already people here who are trying to kill each other."_

_He turned around to see what was going on and saw a young Kratai woman pointing her spear angrily at the man before her. That was Shi'ra, "I'll show you who is freak out of two of us!"_

_"Hey! What's going on!?" One of the guards asked as they approached Shi'ra and the unknown man._

_"He thinks I'm some freak! He said it himself to me! He even laughs at that!" Shi'ra shouted, her weapon on the shoulder aimed itself at the man before her._

_"Miss! You're drunk! No one is laughing at you!" The other guard tried to calm her down._

_"...I didn't ask to born that way! I didn't ask to be treated like a worst scum on my planet because I was born smaller than other females of my people! I didn't ask to be casted out for being different!_" S_hi'ra shouted at the top of her lungs, as Azurite titled his head at it, now interesed in what was she saying._

_"Miss. It's alright. He's not going to call you a freak again. He was drunk, he didn't know what he was saying." The guard tried to avoid fighting with Shi'ra, because he knew her spieces, and he knew that they weren't screwing around when they're angry._

_Shi'ra sighed, lowering her spear, "If gets close to me again, I'm going to kill him."_

_Both guards sighed in relief, as they took the unknown man out of the bar, before he could cause more trouble. Shi'ra went to the bar, took a place next to Azurite, and ordered another drink._

_"Hey." Azurite greeted her._

_"What do you want?" She asked him._

_"I just want to talk. You know, my people casted me out for being different too." Azurite said, trying to make a friendly conversation with her._

_"Is that so?" Suddenly Shi'ra was interested in it, "What did you do to be casted out for being different? You were born smaller than other people of our kind? Or is it because of something your parents did?"_

_"No." Azurite said as he carefully grabbed her hand and guided it to his forehead, which was mostly covered by a hood. He let her touch his gem as Shi'ra eyes shot open in suprise._

_"You're a gem... I thought that all gems were girls..." She said, really suprised by who Azurite turned out to be, as Azurite let go off her hand._

_"You now know the reason why they banished me." Azurite explained, as he extended his hand towards her, "I'm Azurite."_

_Shi'ra grabbed his hand and shook it, "I'm Shi'ra."_

* * *

"And we've been friends since then." Shi'ra finished the story of how she and Azurite, "If it wasn't for that drunk fella that called a freak, I wouldn't be here with you right now."

''Well, life writes the most interesting scenarios, you said it yourself to me many times." Azurite said.

"Yeah." Shi'ra said, before looking down at the fish on her pizza, causing her to snort as she remembered a funny story Azurite once told her.

"Are you laughing at what again?" Jasper asked her.

"It reminds me of a story Azurite once told me." Shi'ra said.

"What story?" Spinel asked her.

"When Azurite and Dragan were with Sydney, Osgar and Lambert, they sent Lambert to catch some fish for dinner." Shi'ra offered. This story always made her and Azurite chuckle when they thought about it, "How about you tell them that story?"

"Oh, that's a funny one." Azurite chuckled, then started telling this story, "So, as Shi'ra said, it happened when I and Dragan were hanging out with Sydney, Lambert and Osgar. We sent Lambert to catch some fish for dinner, and he came back a few hours later with five beautiful fishes, and one week later, I, Lambert and Sydney are out in the market, and one of a fish seller yells to Lambert "So, how did you enjoy those fishes?" We all had a good laugh about that, much to his irritation.''

Spinel, Shi'ra, Steven, Amethyst, even Jasper chuckled at the story.

"He knew that he could just tell you that he couldn't catch any fishes, right?" Amethyst asked Azurite, laughing.

"Lambert was too proud to do that." Azurite explained. Lambert could be a real bastard sometimes, but Azurite missed him, and wished he still had the picture of him, Sydney and Osgar on his memorial wall.

"I can only imagine how embarassed he must've been by it." Spinel stated.

"Yeah." Azurite agreed with her, "When the fish seller called him out, he was like "_Why, just why?..._"."

Spinel laughed as Azurite shrugged his shoulders, sending her a small smile.

"Shi'ra." Jasper said, as she was finally done with her.

"Yes?" Shi'ra said back to the gem.

"What is that thing on your shoulder? Is it a weapon?" Jasper asked her.

"You mean my plasma caster?" Shi'ra asked, taking her weapon off her shoulder, before placing her on the table.

"Plasma what?" Jasper asked her.

''Plasma caster. It can cut through many things, like wood, or rock, as if it was nothing for it." Shi'ra explained.

"Are you serious?" Jasper asked, now interested in it.

"Yes." Shi'ra responded.

"Now, I'm interested in seeing how this works." Jasper stated.

"You and me both, sis." Amethyst said, wanting to see what Shi'ra weapon can do.

"Sis? Are you two related." Shi'ra asked, taking glances between Jasper and Amethyst.

"You can say that." Amethyst answered.

"Oh." Shi'ra said in response, before adding, "Well, if you're both interested in seeing what my plasma caster can do, do you know a place where I can present it you?"

"You can show it to them in the forest." Steven offered. If Shi'ra was going to break some branches with her weapon, he could always grew them back with his healing spit.

"So, is everyone done with their food?" Shi'ra asked, looking around to see that Jasper, Azurite and Spinel were done with their food, "Then, let's go."

Several minutes later, Azurite, Shi'ra, Spinel, Jasper, Steven and Amethyst were in the forest which was not too far from Little Homeworld. They found a good spot where Shi'ra could present how her plasma caster worked.

"Are you guys ready?" Shi'ra asked them, earning nods in response, "Let's begin, shall we?"

Her plasma caster aimed itself at the rock that was nearby. They could see where it was, because a square appeared on it. A moment later, her weapon fired and the plasma cut through rock like a hot knife through butter. Everyone except for Azurite who has seen her use her weapon before stared at it in awe, as Shi'ra aimed her weapon at the tree branch. She fired it again, and the tree branch fell down on the ground.

"So, what do you think?" She asked, as her plasma caster got itself into it's normal position.

"Wow." Amethyst said.

"It seems like a useful weapon." Jasper said.

"It is, but it has one flaw." Shi'ra said.

"What is it?" Jasper wanted to know.

"After I fire five shots in a short amount of time, this weapon needs to warm itself up, before I can use it again." Shi'ra explained.

"How many trouble did it caused to you?" Jasper asked her.

"It's doesn't causes that many trouble to me. It only brings some trouble when I'm fighting off something big." Shi'ra answered, as she looked over at Azurite, "So, if we're not done with the presentation of plasma caster, should now take care of your ships."

"That's a very good idea." Azurite agreed with her.

"Then I wish both of you luck in upgrading your ships. I'll stay here for a moment." Steven said.

"I'll stay with you for a moment." Shi'ra said, as she looked over at Azurite and the rest, "We'll see each other in a moment."

"Are you sure? We wait for you and then we'll go together." Spinel said.

"No, there's something I want to talk with Steven in private." Shi'ra said.

"I'll be waiting for you by our ships." Azurite said,

Shi'ra nodded her head in understanding as Spinel, Azurite, Jasper and Amethyst began walking to Little Homeworld. When they disappeared from her and Steven's view, she turned towards him and said, "Alright, kid. Now that we're left alone for a moment, can you tell me how Azurite is doing? I want to hear it from another perspective." she said to Steven, who nodded his head, understanding why she wanted to know that from him.

"Azurite is doing okay here, it's still not the best, but it's much better than it was when it was revealed that he is a gem. I and Spinel barely conviced him to stay here. For most of the time he stays behind the walls of Little Homeworld. The one time when I saw him leave Little Homeworld, and it wasn't when he was pretending to someone else, was one week ago when Spinel took him and Jasper to Funland on Halloween." He explained.

Shi'ra sighed, "Well, It's still much better than it used to be after what happened on Konoritos. I'm sure that he told you about that."

"He did." Steven said, letting his head down at the sad story, "No one should have gone through something like this."

"The worst part about this is that the bastard responsible for it and other massacres is still out there and is growing stronger." Shi'ra said, shaking her head, "I already told Azurite, if the time will come for I think you know, he should call me."

"Thanos. I still can't believe that someone like him exist." Steven stated.

"The universe is much bigger than you could have ever imagined, kid. And it is filled with scum. Thanos is just one of the many, but it doesn't change the fact that he's one of the most dangerous ones." Shi'ra told him, patting his head with her denture, "Luckilly there are also many good people out there in the universe."

"How did you lost your arm?" Steven wanted to know.

"It was during a contract. I was lucky, because I was with Azurite at the time when I accepted it. I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him. He saved my life." Shi'ra explained, eyeing her fake arm.

"What happened?" Steven asked her.

"It was on a planet called Moatr. The people who gave me this contract were wrong about who was stealing their supplies, and it turned out to be someone much worse and bigger than a simple hungry animal. This monster ripped my arm off as it was nothing to him, and if Azurite wasn't there at the moment, I wouldn't be standing here. Once he made sure that the monster was away from me. He took me to a place where we were safe from him, and stopped the bleeding." Shi'ra explained.

"Did you came back for the monster? Or where did you get that arm?" Steven asked.

"No, we didn't came back for that. We knew that this work was too hard for two people. He sent a message for the Guardians that they he needs their help in dealing with a monster and they came a day after. It was how I met them. After the contract, they gave one of the dentures they had on the ship, and I hang out with them from time to time. We're on good terms with each other." Shi'ra explained.

"The Guardians, they seem like a good people from your and Azurite's stories." Steven stated.

"They are. They have their flaws, like everyone, but they're good people." Shi'ra said.

"I would like to meet them, someday." Steven said.

"Well, one day perharps." Shi'ra said.

"... Shi'ra do you have a home, or are you staying in your ship?" Steven asked her, after a moment of thinking what to say to her.

"My ship was my home for as long as I can remember." Shi'ra answered.

"You never thought about settling down on a planet?" Steven asked.

"What are you trying to say?" Shi'ra wanted to know.

"You can stay here if you want to. There's fourth room in Azurite's, Spinel's and Jasper's house, and I'm sure they could use another roommate." Steven offered.

"What? Me? A Kratai among gems?" Shi'ra asked him, suprised by the offer.

"Why not. You don't seem to have any bad intentions, and Spinel, Amethyst and even Jasper seem to like you already. It wouldn't be any problem." Steven said

"What about other gems?" Shi'ra asked him.

"I'm sure they'll be okay with it. We knew that there was a possibility that someone who isn't a gem was going to come here sooner or later." Steven answered.

Shi'ra sighed as she rubbed the back of her head, "...Screw it. Azurite's already here and his roommates seem to be alright peo... gems, so I may give it a chance."

Steven smiled at her, "Then let's go tell them that they're going to have someone else living in their house, but before that, Shi'ra. Can I ask you for one more thing?"

"Go ahead." Shi'ra answered.

"Can you lift me up to that place?" Steven asked her. It would be easier than climbing.

"Sure." Shi'ra said, as she lifted him up to the tree that she shot down the branch from. Steven licked one of his fingers, and touched it, which made the tree branch grew back the moment after he touched it, "Are you done?"

"Yes. Let's go to Little Homeworld." Steven answered, as Shi'ra brought him back to the ground, "I'm sure that is Azurite is going to be very happy about you staying here for longer period of time."

Several minutes later, both of them made their way to Little Homeworld, and saw that Azurite, Jasper, Spinel and Amethyst were waiting for them next to Azurite's and Shi'ra ship.

"There you are!" Spinel said, as they approached them.

"So, Shi'ra you're ready for work?" Azurite asked his friend.

"Yes, but before that I need to ask you, Spinel and Jasper something." Shi'ra said.

"Go ahead." Azurite told her.

"Got a room for one more in your house?" Shi'ra asked.

"What? You're staying here?" Azurite answered, suprised by what Shi'ra just said.

Shi'ra just shrugged her shoulders with a smile, as Azurite looked over at Steven who just next to her, "Ask this kid. If you're staying here, then I can stay here for longer than I originally planned as well."

"So, what do you guys think? Can Shi'ra stay with you?" Steven asked Azurite, Spinel and Jasper.

"You know you don't need to ask me." Azurite said.

Steven then asked to Spinel and Jasper, "What about you two?"

"You don't need to ask me too." Spinel answered.

"I'm alright with it." Jasper added.

"So, now if we're done with this part." Shi'ra said as she glanced over at Azurite, "Let's get work."

"Yup." He nodded his head.

They had a lot of work ahead of them.


	11. A day with Spinel

It's been a little over a week since Shi'ra moved in with Azurite, Spinel and Jasper, and Spinel had to admit that she enjoyed having another roommate. She and her two other roommamates helped Shi'ra in helping some of her things from her ship into her new room in their house. She just like Azurite didn't had many things to move, but there were two things that got her attention. Those things were two barrels with a strange liquor, and when asked them what was that, she replied that it was something she liked to drink only on special occasions.

As for Shi'ra and Azurite's mission to upgrade their ships. It took them a few hours to do it, and even with Peridot's help after she offered to help them. When they thought that they were finally done with the job of installing this upgrade, they tested it and it worked, making both of them relieved that their hard work paid off.

Shi'ra was really open towards seeing what the Earth had to offer. Steven, just like he did with her, Azurite and Jasper took Shi'ra to a trip around Little Homeworld to show her around what she could in her free time. There were some things she was more skilled at, and what got Spinel's attention was the fact that Shi'ra was really skilled it crafting. She started to learn how to craft her own things since she came to this planet, and while she still wasn't the best at it, she was getting better with each lesson. She asked Shi'ra if she could teach her, which she accepted, making Spinel really happy.

The thing that made her even happier was the fact that Jasper was finally opening herself up to the others. For most of her time on Earth, she just stuck mostly to her and Azurite, eventually sharing a word with or two with them, but not it seemed like it was getting better when it came to her case.

But there was still one roommate that was still keeping himself away from most of the gems and humans.

Azurite.

Even though his closest friend arrived on this planet, and was staying on it longer than it was originally planned, he still was keeping himself away from most of gems and humans. He still kept himself close to himself, with her, Shi'ra and Jasper being the majority of persons he talked with. While he attended some of the exercises in Little Homeworld, he was still keeping himself away from the others.

When Spinel asked Shi'ra about that, she told her that she just has to give him time and that he'll eventually come out to the others. Spinel knew that Shi'ra was right, but she didn't know how long it'll actually take. Spinel remembered what happened on Konoritos and wanted to help Azurite, just like others helped her when she needed it.

She was planning to take him out to the town today, mostly to Funland. She asked Shi'ra where Azurite was and the huntresses informed her that Azurite went to Garnet's yoga class, one of the exercises in Little Homeworld that Azurite enjoyed doing.

A few minutes later, the gems that attended todays yoga class, which included, one Topaz, one Ruby guard, two Jaspers, one Nephrite from Nephrite's crew, and finally the gem she came looking for. 

"Hey, Azzie. What are you doing?" She asked him, approaching him.

"I'm standing on my head and talking to you." Azurite answered as if the answer wasn't obvious enough.

"Hey, Spinel!" Garnet' voice called over for Spinel, "You came here to join us?"

Spinel nodded her head, and a moment later got herself in the yoga position that Garnet, Azurite and other gems were now, and was about to whisper something to her, but he cut off her by saying, "We're talk once this thing is over, okay?" 

"Okay." Spinel answered.

And so she waited, she waited for the yoga class to be over. Luckily for her she didn't have any problems with any positions Garnet came up with, mostly because she could extended her limbs to any length she wanted.

When it seemed like todays yoga class was coming to an end, she heard Garnet say, "Thank you all for coming. Hope to you see all tommorow." 

The gems, including said their goodbyes to Garnet, and began moving away to do whatever they were planning to do now. Everyone except Azurite who just nodded his head to that, and silently moved away so he and Spinel could talk about whichever she wanted to talk with him about.

"So, about what do you want to talk with me about?" He asked her, as they stopped by one of the houses, with him leaning against the wall.

"Do you want to go to Funland?" Spinel offered him.

"No." Azurite declined, almost instantly after hearing her offer.

"Why?" Spinel asked him.

"Because I don't want to. Take Shi'ra.'' Azurite responded.

"I already took her there a few days ago, even Jasper decided to join us." Spinel pointed out.

"It wouldn't hurt to take them again." Azurite stated.

"I just want you to finally start coming out to the others. The only people you're talking with are me, Jasper and Shi'ra." Spinel told him.

"You know when I'll finally start coming out? After I see Thanos' head laying before my feet!" Azurite exclaimed, starling even himself for raising his voice.

"And how are going to do it, Azzie? From you told me about him, you wouldn't probably stand a chance if you went after him by yourself." Spinel pointed out.

"Who said that I'm going to at him by myself? I told Quill's crew numerous times that they should inform me right away when they day will come. I'll be more than happy to help them in this. I know that the day when he'll finally be ready to collect Infinity Stone will come. This guy was inside my head for almost twenty years since he cleansed Konoritos. Do you think I don't want to stop thinking about him? I'd love to forget about this guy existance for a moment, but the thought of him achieving what he wants is one of my, if not the worst fear." Azurite told her, crossing his arms.

"Then, let me help you forget about him, even if it'll only last a moment." Spinel offered him.

"Why do you care about it that much?' Azurite asked, before cursing himself mentally for being so cold for to Spinel now. He knew he should've to pick his words better than he did now. 

"Because you're my friend and I'm worried about you! It's been over month since you decided to try living here a chance, and you've been staying in Little Homeworld for most of your time, and you barely talk to anyone besides me or Jasper, or Shi'ra. I know what happened on Konoritos, and I want to help you to stop thinking about it. When I needed help, people helped me, and I want to return the favor by helping someone else!'' Spinel shouted at him, her normally happy expression turning into a grim one.

Azurite stared at Spinel for a good moment, not really knowing what to say. It was the first time he saw her raise her voice since he met her. She didn't even raised her voice when she was telling him how Pink Diamond abandoned. He let out a long sigh, before saying, "Fine... If that will make you stop worrying about me that much, then I'll go with you to Funland."

Spinel's grim expression turned into a smile before she gave Azurite a hug. At first Azurite just stood there for a second, thinking if he should hug her back or not. She hugged him before one time, after he told her and Steven about what happened to Konoritos, and he returned it. They were a few situations where Spinel hugged him, after he came to this planet, but in all of those situation he just waited for her to stop hugging him.

This time, he gave her a quick pat on her back, and awkwardly but eventually hugged her back, "So, let's go, shall we?"

"Of course!" Spinel said, grabbing Azurite's hand, causing him to follow her through the streets of Little Homeworld, until they reached the exit, "You're going to love todays day!"

"If you say so." Azurite said. As long as it'll make her stop worrying about him, then it was going to be worth it. One of the last thing he needed right now was someone worrying about him, when he was in much better condition than he was for the last several years.

Several minutes passed and both of them eventually made their way to Funland. It looked almost exactly the same as it did when Spinel took Jasper and Azurite there on Halloween, minus everything that was related to that holiday.

"What do you want to do?" Spinel asked, as they stopped for a moment.

Azurite shrugged his shoulders, "Choose whichever you want. As long as it's not that haunted house."

"Don't worry. They thankfully closed it down after Halloween. Besides, I was there only once and I think it was enough." Spinel answered, remembering how disappointed she was by how lame that haunted house turned out to be. She then grabbed his hand again and took him to one of the attractions, "I know a perfect attraction where we can start!"

"Hey there, Spinel. I see you came back to give it a try again." Blue Lace Agate greeted her, as Spinel choose to try her attraction first, then Blue Lace Agate spotted Azurite by her side, "I see that she finally conviced you to go out of Little Homeworld for a bit."

"I couldn't resist her charm." Azurite answered.

Blue Lace Agate chuckled at Azurite's words, as she turned back to Spinel, "So, I assume that you came here to try it again?"

"Yes, something tells me that today is the day when I win one of those." Spinel replied, gesturing towards one of the plushies behind Blue Lace Agate.

"Let's see. You've brought someone new so he may bring you luck." Blue Lace Agate said, as she took out a few rings and put them on the counter. Spinel picked two of them up, and kept one to herself while handing the other one to Azurite. The male gem took the ring from her, "Good luck, both of you."

Spinel was the first one to throw her ring at the bottle, missing it. Azurite was after her, after a moment of trying to aim his ring the way he thought it'll land on that bottle, but missed it too. He and Spinel shared a quick look with each other, before they began throwing all the rings Blue Lace Agate gave, missing every shot.

It continued for the next few minutes...

"Oh, c'mon." Now Azurite was growing annoyed. He fought off the hordes of the undead skeletons along with Freddy and Darnel, he and Dragan defeated a entire group of mercenaries by themselves, he survived the invasion of Thanos, and helped to destroy a celestial being but yet he still couldn't one of those rings at those bottles.

"This game is rigged. It has to be." Spinel stated. She tried so many times to win one of those plushies but she never could throw one of those rings at those bottles.

"You guys want to try again?" Blue Lace Agate asked them.

"One more round and we're done." Spinel responded to which Blue Lace Agate placed a few more rings on the counter as Azurite turned around for a moment and saw a strange kid that stood next to one of the attractions with two torches with a crowd of people and gem watching him.

"Guys, what is that strange kid doing?" He asked, gesturing towards this kid.

"Is Onion trying to lit the rollercoaster on fire?" Spinel added, turning look to this kid as well.

"_Onion?_" Azurite thought to himself. It was one of the strangest names he heard in a long time.

"No, I'm not falling for that for the third time.'' Blue Lace Agate said, crossing her arms.

"We're not lying, just take a look." Azurite said as he pointed at this kid that Spinel called Onion. 

Blue Lace Agate looked towards the direction Azurite was pointing at and saw that Onion was indeed trying to lit the rollercoaster on fire. She jumped above the counter and ran over to him, "Oh no! C'mon, Onion! Not again!"

Spinel looked at Blue Lace Agate and it seemed like she was going to be gone for a good moment. She picked up another ring and extended her hand to the point where she placed the ring on the bottle.

She looked back for a moment to see if Blue Lace Agate was coming, and saw that Azurite was giving her a "Really?" look, "What?"

Azurite chuckled at what she was doing, "Do what you must. I'll tell you if she's coming or not."

Spinel smiled at him gratefully, before she went back to what she was doing. A moment later Blue Lace Agate came and her expression turned into a very suprised, "You did it?"

"As you can see." Spinel answered.

"Alright, then. Hey Larimar, give her prize!" Blue Lace Agate called over to the gem that was behind the counter for this whole time. 

"Okay!" Larimar's voice sounded as she came over to the prizes and picked a stuffed bear. Azurite's and Spinel's eyes shot wide open as she came into their view. She was there for this whole time! If yes then how she didn't notice that Spinel cheated to get on of the plushies?''

"There you go." She said, handing Spinel's prize to her.

"You were here for this whole time?" Azurite asked what was on his and Spinel's mind.

"Yes. Steven got me a job here. At first I was operating the rollercoaster, but I wasn't the best, but then I found out that I'm good at handing out prizes to children, and I very enjoy their laughter. It sounds jus tlike screaming." Larimar answered.

"Okay..." Azurite said, feeling a bit disturbed by the last part.

"One day, I'll make you scream Azurite." Larimar added, without realizing how it could be understood in so many ways.

"...If you say so." Azurite said, as he turned around and was about to leave, "Talk to you two later..."

"Why did you started to leave?" Spinel asked, curiously, as ran over to catch up with him.

"It just what she said can be understand in so many ways." Azurite explained.

"What do you mean?" Spinel asked with a raised brow, before realization appeared in her mind. She blushed heavily, before saying, "Oh..."

"Yeah." Azurite said as Spinel tried to hand him the stuffed bear, with the blush not leaving her face.

"Your prize." She said.

"Take it." Azurite told her.

"Are you sure you want me to?" Spinel asked him.

"Yes. You're the one who won it." Azurite answered.

Spinel smiled at him, "Thank you, Azzie!"

"No problem. I could see how much you wanted to win one of those for some reason." Azurite said, giving Spinel a pat on her shoulder.

"So, what do you want to do next? We have plenty of attractions around here!" Spinel asked him.

"You're the one who brought me here. You should choose." Azurite pointed out.

"Hm..." Spinel said as she looked around her surroudings for a moment, "How about rollercoaster? Onion is not trying to lit it on fire anymore."

"Okay." Azurite said with a shrug of his shoulders as they began making their way towards the rollercoaster.

* * *

For the next few hours, Azurite and Spinel were spending time with each other, trying every attraction that Funland had to offer, and when they were tried every last one of them, Spinel took Azurite to Big Donut. She wanted him to try the first Earth food she was introduced to, because she already tried the first food he tried on this planet when on the first day of Shi'ra stay when they thought it'll be just a few days.

"So, this is the first Earth food that Steven introduced you to?" Azurite asked her, eyeing his donut, as they came out of the Big Donut.

"Yes. Try it, it's really good." Spinel answered, as Azurite took a quick bite of his donut, "So, Azzie, do you like it?"

"It's good." Azurite asked, before taking another bite.

"See, I knew you'd like it!" Spinel smiled at him, before taking a bite of her donut.

"Hey, Azurite, Spinel." Azurite and Spinel both turned to the source of the voice and saw Orange Pearl approaching them, Azurite remembered her from the art class Steven took him, Spinel and Jasper to on their first day in Little Homeworld, "I'm not sure if you remember me."

"I remember you. I see you from time to time in Little Homeworld." Azurite told her, remembering that she was in the art class thingy on his first day in Little Homeworld, "You were the one that started the topic that I fought Steven and the rest during this art thingy."

"So, you do remember me." Orange Pearl said.

"What is it?" Azurite asked, going straight to the point, knowing that Orange Pearl must've wanted something from him.

"...I want to ask you about something..." Orange Pearl said, shyly, gesturing to Azurite.

"Go ahead then." Azurite said.

"Canyouteachmehowdotofightlikethat?!" Orange Pearl asked that quickly, that even Spinel couldn't understand what she just said.

"What?" They both said at the same time, causing them to share a quick glance with each other.

Orange Pearl sighed, before repeating herself, this time much slower, "I want you to teach me how to fight, just like you."

Azurite's eyes shot open at that. It actually took him a moment to say something, "It's something I wasn't excepting to hear."

Spinel said nothing, just nodded her head to what Azurite just said.

"Why do you want to me to teach you?" Azurite asked Orange Pearl.

"I was created on Homeworld to serve a Jasper, and when I saw her train, I instantly thought that I want to know how to fight like that too, but she refused to teach me, because I was a Pearl and Pearls weren't meant for fighting." Orange Pearl explained.

Azurite sighed, "Fine, but if something happens to you, remember, you were the one that asked me about it."

Orange Pearl nodded her head in understanding as she clapped her hands, with a smile growing on her face, "That's great! When can we start?"

"We can start now." Azurite answered, before looking down at Spinel, "If Spinel doesn't has anything else planned."

"No. That's everything for today." Spinel said, before adding, "Beside, I want to see you in the role of a teacher."

"So, as I said, we can start now, but do you know where can we start?" Azurite asked Orange Pearl.

"I know a good place where can we start! I'll take you both there!" Orange Pearl said, getting excited that she was going to be taught something she wanted to try for her whole life, as she began to walk towards that place, with Azurite and Spinel following her.

"Are you nervous?" Spinel asked Azurite, as they proceeded to follow Orange Pearl.

"No." Azurite answered with a raised brow, "Why?"

"You're going to be teaching someone how to fight, I think you are at least a little nervous about it, but you don't want to admit it." Spinel answered.

"I'm not nervous about it, because In my free time on Konoritos, when I wasn't hunting or doing something else, I was teaching Aleena, or some other Zarans in my free time." Azurite explained.

Spinel nodded her head in understanding, "Oh, so how was it?"

"I had some fun doing this. At least I was sure that the time that Dragan spent to teach me how to fight like him didn't go for nothing." Azurite answered.

"So, I take that you're a good teacher." Spinel stated.

"I don' know. I never said it, I just said that I had fun while doing it." Azurite pointed out.

"Guess I'm about to find out." Spinel said, as Orange Pearl stopped in the place. She and Azurite both instantly knew that it was the place.

"We're here." Orange Pearl told them, only confirming what Spinel and Azurite thought.

"I'll go sit on that crate to watch you both without interrupting ." Spinel said, as she walked over to a crate that stood before a wall, and sat down on it.

"Let's begin then, shall we?" Azurite asked, turning towards Orange Pearl.

"Okay." Orange Pearl said with a nod of her head, as Azurite slowly walked over to her.

"Punch me." He told Orange Pearl, as they were now facing each other.

Orange Pearl at first seemed to be taken aback by the sudden order, but eventually she did as she told to and she swung her fist at Azurite, who easily ducked her punch, and punched her, causing her to fall down on the ground.

Spinel opened her mouth, most likely to make a comment about him knocking her down, but he pointed at her, his expression saying, "Don't."

"Lesson number one. Get used to the pain because he will accompany you throughout most of our lessons." He said, offering his hand down to help Orange Pearl get back on her feet.

"Okay." Orange Pearl said, as she got herself back on her feet with the help of Azurite.


	12. Another day on Earth

Orange Pearl gritted her teeth as she ducked a blow from Azurite. She charged at him, but instead of attacking at the front, she decided to attack him from the behind. That was her plan until Azurite's fist slammed against her body, knocking her down the ground.

"You have to be faster than that." He said, offering his hand to her, "You're getting better with each lesson but you still have a lot to learn."

"I know." Orange Pearl said with a nod of her, before accepting Azurite's hand, allowing him to lift her up. She turned around to the crate and added, "Spinel didn't came here today."

"She was watching me train you since we began our sessions. I'm certain that she has better things to do." Azurite stated, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're probably right..." Orange Pearl was cut off the middle of the sentence.

"Hey, Azzie! Orange!" The instantly recognized that voice. It was Spinel.

"Speak of the devil." Azurite said, as Spinel approached both of them.

"Hey, guys! Are you done with your daily lesson?" She asked them.

"It depends if Orange is done for today." Azurite answered, glancing over at Orange Pearl.

"What is it?" Orange Pearl asked Spinel.

"I'm trying to find gems for a baseball team." Spinel explained.

"A what now?" Azurite asked her.

"A base what?" Orange Pearl seemed to be confused as much as he was.

"An Earthy game. It is played between two opposing teams who take turns..." Spinel began explaining what a baseball was and when she was done with it a minute, or two later, Azurite and Orange nodded their heads, now understanding what that game is, "So, you're in? We need two more players to start a match." 

"I guess I can try it." Orange Pearl said. She liked trying new things.

"What about you, Azzie?" Spinel asked, turning to Azurite.

"Why not." Azurite said with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't seem to have anything better to do now.

Spinel cheered, as she grabbed Azurite and Orange Pearl by their hands and lead them to the place where they were going to play this Earthy game.

Upon arriving there, Azurite saw that Jasper and Shi'ra were already there. A Kratai and a gem were chatting with each other with Shi'ra eventually having a laugh or two. There weren't the only ones there. Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Pink Pearl were also present with Yellow and Blue having clothes which were in more sportish style instead of their normal ones. He then saw three more gem chatting with each other. One of those gems was Nephrite he met when he went along with Jasper and Spinel to move his belongings from his ship to his new home, and the other two were also Nephrites.

"Shi'ra! Jassie! I found two more gems to our team!" Spinel said, gesturing towards Azurite and Orange Pearl, as she, Azurite, and Shi'ra walked over to the said kratai and gem.

"Hey, you two." Shi'ra greeted Azurite and Orange Pearl, as she glanced over at Orange Pearl, "How was your lesson?"

"It was great. Azurite said that I'm getting better with each lesson." Orange Pearl answered, to which Azurite nodded his head in agreement.

"If that's true, then how about we'll spar one day? I would like to test you out." Jasper offered.

"Spar? With you? You'd crush me." Orange Pearl stated. It was pretty obvious that Jasper was more experienced than her, and she'd win the fight easily, "Just like Azurite did with you when he flipped you over on your back."

"He took me of the guard by his sudden movement. If I wasn't certain that he wasn't paying any attention to me then I wouldn't land on my back." Jasper pointed out.

"So, this is your team?" Yellow Pearls voice stopped their conversation, as all five of them turned to her, Blue Pearl, Pink Pearl, and three Nephrites.

"Yup! We're ready to play!" Spinel confirmed with a nod.

"Wait..." Orange Pearl as she silently counted the gems on the opposite team, "There's one more in your team."

"Oh, no. I'm not going to play with you. I just came here to watch, keep track of the scores." Pink Pearl explained, earning a nod from Orange Pearl.

"And there's one more thing. We have three Nephrites here. It will be easier for us to play if they had nicknames during this match." Azurite said, causing everyone to stare at him weirdly, "What?"

"Azurite. The gems who are the same gem type have a nickname to make it easier for us to mistake them." Spinel said with a confused expression on her face. Azurite really didn't knew about that?

"They have?" Azurite asked, confused by what he just heard. He never heard about it.

"Wait, Azurite? You didn't know about that? You've been here longer than me." Even Shi'ra was confused by the fact that he didn't knew about that.

"Oh..." Azurite said in response. Great, now he felt like an idiot, "So, how I should call you?"

"You can call me Centi." Nephrite that he met when he, Spinel and Jasper went to move things from his ship to theor house said.

"What about these two?" Azurite asked, 

"I'm Terra." The one with longer hair that was tied into a ponytail answered, as she held hands with the other one.

"And I'm Cotta." The one with shorter hair added.

Azurite nodded his head to that. At least it would be easier for him to know which one is which.

With that, both teams said their goodlucks to each other and went to their positions.

First up at the plate was Yellow Pearl and Jasper was the pitcher. It was pretty obvios for Spinel's team to pick Jasper for that position, with her being probably the strongest gem in this match. She smirked at Yellow Pearl before throwing the ball at her, the yellow gem attempted to hit it but missed.

Spinel who stood behind them caught it in her mitt, "Strike one!" She shouted. This match started off well for her team.

Jasper repeated her action, once again, and threw another ball at Yellow Pearl, who this time didn't miss it, but the bat broke in the half at the impact of the ball.

"Uh... Pink." Yellow Pearl called over to Pink Pearl.

"Jasper. I think you should lower your strenght for another throw. We may ran out of the bats..." Centi stated.

"If you say so." Jasper answered.

Pink Pearl already knew what her fellow Pearl from Homeworld meant by that. She picked up another bat, before walking over and handing it to Yellow Pearl.

"Come on, Yellow." Blue Pearl cheered for her fellow Pearl in her usual quiet tone.

Yellow Pearl readied herself, this was her last chance to hit the ball. Jasper threw another ball, this time it was weaker than the last two throws. They could tell the difference, because Yellow Pearl hit the ball, just like she did in the last throw, but this time the bat didn't break into two pieces. She ran to the first base as soon as the bat hit the ball, then she ran across the field and eventually made her way over to the base with a home run.

Terra was the next from her team. She readied herself for Jasper's throw, but still missed because she just like Yellow Pearl wasn't prepared for such a fast ball. She tried again, but still failed to touch it, at the third time her bat pitched it but still missed. She grunted as she made her way over to her team. 

"Don't worry, you'll get a chance again." Cotta said to her, patting her on the back, earning a smile from Terra.

Blue Pearl went after Terra. The main problem with her was that she either swung the bat too slow or too fast. She just like Terra went back to her team without hitting a ball.

Similiar thing happened with Cotta.

Centi was the last one from her team to try, and she actually managed to hit the ball on her first try. She just like Yellow Pearl made it to the base with a home run.

Not it was turn for Spinel's team. Jasper switched her places with Centi as she went to the plate position, and readied herself for the first throw from the green gem.

As Azurite watched how her hit the ball with the bat without any problems, he felt someone nudging his side, "Yes, Shi'ra?"

"I bet you haven't ever imagined us playing a game like this." Shi'ra said to him.

"You have me here. I bet you haven't either." Azurite said back.

"You have me here too." Shi'ra chuckled.

"Wish me luck, guys." Orange Pearl said, as she was the second one from her team to 

"So, pal. As you know, recently I and Spinel were trying to get TV into our home, and we succeeded in this, and you wouldn't believe me which movie I got my hands on." Shi'ra said.

"Should I take a guess at it?" Azurite asked her.

"If you want to." Shi'ra responded.

"Shi'ra. You know I hate guessing games." Azurite told her.

"I know." Shi'ra smirked at him before telling him the title of the movie, "It's Footloose."

"Footloose? Ain't that the movie that Quill told us about numerous times?" Azurite wanted to know

"Yes." Shi'ra answered with a nod of her head.

"Which one was it? The one with Kevin Bacon or the one with David Hasselhoff?" Azurite asked another question.

"The first one." Shi'ra responded, "I, Jasper, Spinel and Centi were planning to watch it today, are you in?"

"After hearing Quill talk about how it is the best thing that was ever created, then I sign me in." Azurite answered, "And Centi? Didn't you just met?"

"We've met each other on my second day on this planet. We became good friends as the days passed. She was with me and Jasper when Spinel came asking us if we'll join her team in this baseball thing. Spinel told her that two gems from her crew are going to be playing so she was like "why not give it a try"." Shi'ra explained.

Azurite nodded his head as he heard someone call his name, "Azurite! It's your turn!"

Azurite reacted to his call and stood up from the bench and went over to the plate postition and picked up the bat. He and Centi shared a quick look with each other, before the latter one threw the ball at him. He swung his bat at the ball a little too quickly, missing it.

"Strike one!" Terra shouted.

After Terra threw the ball back to Centi, Azurite readied himself for another blow, but this time, he once again missed, only this time it was because he swung it too late.

"Strike two!" Terra shouted.

"C'mon, Azzie! You can do it!" Spinel cheered for her teammate.

Azurite let out a deep sigh as he prepared himself for the last throw from Centi. She threw him another ball a second after. He clenched his teeth as he swung the bat at it, this time succeeding at trying to hit it.

With that he dropped the bat on the ground, and ran across the field, scoring another home run for his team.

When he made his way over to his team, Orange Pearl extended her hand towards him, waiting for him to bump it. He bumped it after a moment, trying not to make it look awkward.

Spinel smiled at she watched these two bump their hands, before turning her attention towards Shi'ra, who was the last one from her team in the line.

This was going to be a fun game.

* * *

The game went going on for over an hour and it ended with Spinel's team winning by two points. At first Yellow Pearl seemed to be a bit angry that her team lost, but got over it pretty fast. Everyone that played this game seemed to have fun, so they didn't really minded if they won or not.

With the game over, now it was time to clean up after it. Spinel, with her being the who came up with the idea of having a baseball match, decided to take all of the bats and balls to the place where they storing these kind of things in Little Homeworld.

As she went over to them, she quickly realized that she won't be able to take all of them by herself. She didn't had any problems with taking them before because she was with Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl at the time. She turned around and called for someone to help, "Hey Azzie!"

"Yes?" The said gem turned to her.

"Can you help me with those? I can't get all of them by myself." Spinel explained.

"Sure." Azurite said as he went over to her, and picked some of the items.

Spinel did the same as they heard Shi'ra say to them, "We'll see you guys in a few minutes."

"Of course. We have a movie to watch after all." Spinel told them.

Spinel and Azurite made sure that they took everything as they began to walk towards the place where they would leave it. They walked mostly in silence, Spinel was eventually greeting the gems they came across along the sidewalk. When they finally reached the place, they left all of the baseball bats and balls there and headed out towards their house where they would a movie with Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi.

"So, are you going to "The Suspects" concert tommorow?" She asked him, trying to start a conversation with him.

"Maybe. We'll see." He responded, hiding the fact that he just found out about this concert thing.

"I hope you'll decide to go. I'd love to see you dance." Spinel said.

Azurite shook his head, "I'm not going to dance if I'll decide to go."

"Why?" Spinel asked him.

"Drax once told me that there are two being in the world. Those who dance and those who not. I'm the latter one." Azurite told her.

"You are no fun." Spinel shook her head.

"I know, but you still talk to me." Azurite stated.

"Because I like talking with you." Spinel told him.

"You like talking with everyone, Spinel." Azurite pointed out.

"...You're right on that one." Spinel said with a nod of her head, "So, if you're not going to dance, then how about you sing?"

"Don't even think about it." Azurite quickly answered with a shook of his head.

"Why not? How about one of the songs that Quill showed you?" Spinel asked him.

"No." Azurite answered as he shook his head again.

"C'mon. You said many times that Quill loves music. There has to be the one that stuck in your mind." Spinel pointed out.

"Well..." Azurite sighed after a moment of thought, "There's one that stuck in my mind."

"Only one, why?" Spinel asked with a raised eyebrow.

_Azurite was walking forward himself, behind Yondu Udonta and with Rocket walking closely behind him. Dozen's of lifeless bodies of the Ravagers were failing down just right next to them, but they didn't really paid any attention to that._

_He heard that little Groot he saw earlier throw a guy down using his arm, before he jumped down, landing on Azurite's shoulder._

_"Remind me not to get on your bad side, little guy." Azurite whispered to Groot, who smiled cutely at him in response._

"It was an interesting event." Azurite told her. Things got even more intense after Yondu murdered all of the people who betrayed him.

"Interesting? Why?" Spinel raised her brow.

"Because it was the day when we destroyed Ego." Azurite explained.

"Oh... c'mon, Azzie. You don't have to sing at the concert, but you can sing me here. No one is going to hear you sing here. I'm not going to tell anyone about this. You know I'm good at keeping secrets." Spinel told him.

"Are you?" Azurite asked.

"I could've tell Shi'ra or Jasper that I teached you how to juggle, but I didn't because I knew you wanted to keep it as a secret." Spinel told him.

"I have no idea how you conviced me to do this." Azurite stated.

"You couldn't resist my charm. Just like you said when we went to Funland." Spinel stated.

"I was just looking for an excuse." Azurite pointed out.

"But you still said it." Spinel said, as Azurite rolled his eyes, "So, are you going to sing or not?"

Azurite sighed, as he looked around for a moment to make sure that no one else except for and was going to listen to it, "Fine. But I'll sing only first four sentences, and I'm completely talentless in this area so prepare yourself." 

Spinel nodded her head as Azurite took one more sigh, as he opened his mouth and started to sing.

_''In a little cafe  
Just the other side of the border  
She was just sitting there givin' me looks  
That made my mouth water.''_

He said those words as quickly as he could, wanting to get over it as fast as it was possible. He looked down at Spinel, immediately noticing that she wasn't really fond of his singing voice. 

"You were right. You're not the best at it." She stated.

"I did warn you about me being talentless in this area." Azurite pointed out.

"But with a little practice..." Spinel started to say.

"No, no, no. Don't even think about it, Spinel. It was the first and last time you saw me sing." Azurite cut her off and turned back around and was about to return to the others. When he saw who was standing behind them, he froze in place, "Now, let's get back to the others bef... fuck..."

"What happ... oh." Spinel said, turning back around to see what made Azurite froze where he stood. She saw Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi. All of them were standing, watching both of them, and Spinel assumed that they heard him sing.

"Guys..." Spinel looked up at Azurite who looked like was going to die of embarassment, "What are you doing here?"

''We were walking to your house, and we heard both of you talking so we stopped by." Orange Pearl explained.

"And then we saw you sing." Shi'ra added, a smirk growing on her face. She was going to annoy the hell out of him with this.

"Good thing it was only four sentences." Jasper said, cringing at how awful Azurite's singing voice was. Good thing Spinel made him sing, instead of her. She'd probably die of embarassment if that happened.

Azurite slowly walked over to them, followed by Spinel and said, "Let's just pretend that never happened, and you saw nothing."

"If you say so, singer. Let's see if this movie is as good as Quill says it is." Shi'ra said, wrapping her arm around Azurite, beginning to drag him to their home so they could watch the movie Quill told them about countless times, "Oh, and we'll have those three Pearls from Homeworld and Nephrites joining us too."

Jasper and Orange Pearl went after them.

Centi was about to follow them, but she noticed that Spinel stood in her place. 

The pink's gem gaze was at Azurite, and there was a slight blush growing on her face, which Centi didn't fail to notice.

"Spinel? Are you alright?" She asked her. 

"Yes. I'm okay. I just lost myself in the thought." Spinel said, as she and Centi followed the rest.

\---

**I'm sorry if I butchered baseball. I don't know much about this sport.**

**And If you haven't figured out which Nephrites from Centi's crew are Terra and Cotta. They are the two Nephrites that kissed each other in the cheek after Centi uncorrupted into her normal self.**

**Next up is a late christmas chapter.**


	13. Secret Santa

Christmas was coming. Another one of Earthy holidays Azurite didn't understand. The streets of Little Homeworld were covered with snow which was failing since dawn.

Azurite was walking along the streets along with Shi'ra and Jasper, his boots leaving marks on the soft white powder. Steven called all of the residents of Little Homeworld to the city center, but he didn't told them why.

"Why did he called us there?" Shi'ra asked Azurite and Jasper.

"Don't ask me. I know as much as you do." Jasper answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Azurite? What about you?" Shi'r asked Azurite, turning towards him.

"Do you really have to ask?" Azurite told her, as if the answer wasn't obvious enough.

"Right... guess, we're going to find out in a moment." Shi'ra said.

"Guys! Over here!" All three of them instantly recognized this voice. They turned to the source of it to see Spinel, who was waving at them. Centi and Orange Pearl were standing by her side.

"Maybe they'll know something." Shi'ra stated.

"Shi'ra, Spinel is there. I'm certain she'll know the reason why he called us here." Jasper said to which Azurite nodded in agreement as the three of them made their way over to Spinel, Orange Pearl and Centi.

"Hey, guys." Orange Pearl greeted all three of them, as they reached them.

"Hey." Shi'ra greeted her back as Jasper and Azurite just nodded their heads to that.

"So, do you guys know what we're doing here?" Centi asked them.

"No." Azurite answered with a shook of his head.

"We thought you knew." Shi'ra explained.

"Well, Jasper. It looks like you were wrong about Spinel knowing the reason why he called us all of us here." Azurite said, a hint of smirk was on his face.

"Oh, be quiet." Jasper quickly shushed him.

"What? I'm just telling you." Azurite stated, to which Jasper rolled her eyes.

"You all may be wondering why I called you here." Steven began, as everyone focused his attention on him, "The reason why I called you here is if as most of you know, Christmas is coming and we're going to do a _Secret Santa_."

"Secret Santa?" Jasper asked with a raised brow, wanting to be sure if she didn't misheard it.

"What's that?" Azurite wanted to know to which Shi'ra nodded her head in agreement.

"I don't know." Spinel answered with a shrug of her shoulders, "Maybe we should as..."

Before Spinel could continue, a gem from the crowd. Her name was Orange Spodumene, asked, "What is Secret Santa?"

''...Guess we don't have to, now." Shi'ra stated.

In response to Orange Spodumene's question, Steven held up a basket filled with small pieces of paper and said, "Everyone pick a name from this basket. Whoever you get you have to get a gift for! But you can't tell who you're buying it. You can ask their friends for advice, but you can't ask the gem you drew. You can also tell your friends, as long as you didn't drew any of them."

"Oh..." Azurite responded to Steven's explanation, hoping he was going to get someone he knew.

"Oh, indeed." Jasper agreed with him, hoping she was going to get someone she knew.

"C'mon, guys! Let's get in the line!" Spinel told them, as all six of them slowly made their way to the line, with Azurite being the last one of them in the line.

Shi'ra was right before him. When it was her turn, she walked over to the basket and put her hand inside of it, before pulling a small piece of paper out of it. She looked at who she picked from the basket and sighed in relief. It must've been someone she knew very well, she whispered to Azurite, "Good luck" before walking off to Spinel, Jasper, Centi and Orange Pearl.

Azurite was the next one in the line. He walked over to the basket and pulled out a small piece of paper, and read which name was written there.

"_Spinel_."

He let out a sigh of relief. Good thing it was someone he knew, but this relief was replaced with small panic, which he hid very well. Spinel was one of the gems he spend the most time with on this planet, if not the most and ironically he had no idea what to give her. Good thing he had over a week to buy it for her, and he had a lot of time to think about it.

When he came up to Shi'ra, Jasper, Spinel, Centi and Orange Pearl, Spinel asked him, "So, Azzie. Who did you get?"

"I won't tell you." Azurite said with a shook of his head, tensing up a bit.

"Why?" Spinel raised her brow, "Steven told us it's okay as long as you didn... You have one of us?"

Azurite shook his head again, "...No? I'm going to tell you once I'll give it to that gem."

"You're just like Shi'ra. She doesn't want to tell us as well." Spinel stated with a laugh.

"Now you have more reasons why we're friends, Spinel." Shi'ra said, as she walked over to Azurite and wrapped her arm around him, "Now if you excuse us, I and Azurite were planning to spend some time together."

''We did?" Azurite whispered to her, quietly so the other wouldn't hear.

"Just go along with it." Shi'ra whispered back to him.

"Oh, yes. I and Shi'ra here planned to spent some time with each other today." Azurite said a second after, going along with what Shi'ra said.

"Who did you get?" She asked him, even though the answer was pretty obvious to her.

"Spinel." Azurite answered.

Shi'ra laughed to that, "I knew it. It explains why you tensed up the moment she asked you that question."

"What about you?" Azurite asked her.

"Centi." Shi'ra told him.

"It explains why you didn't want to tell them who you drew too." Azurite stated.

"I guess it does." Shi'ra said with a nod of her head, "We both were lucky that we got someone we know very well. Jasper for example got a gem she only shared a few words with it.

"Yup. We were." Azurite chuckled to that, "So... do you know what you're going to buy Centi?"

"I'm going to buy her a weekly supply of chaps." Shi'ra explained.

"Seriously? You're going to buy her that snack?" Azurite wanted to be if she was serious.

"Yes. You saw how much she likes it when we watched Footloose." Shi'ra answered.

"I did." Azurite said with a nod of his head, remembering how Centi dug into chaps as if it was going to be her last meal.

"Speaking of gifts, what are you going to get for Spinel?" Shi'ra asked him.

Azurite shook his head, "I have no idea?"

Shi'ra raised her brows, suprised, "Really? You're spending so much time with each other and you have no idea what to get her?"

Azurite shrugged his shoulders, "Yes. Good thing I have one week to figure it out. I want to her like whatever I'm going to get her."

"It's Spinel, pal. I'm certain she'll like it." Shi'ra assured him.

"If you say so. I want to give her something special." Azurite began as Shi'ra looked at him, curious what was he going to say, "After I came here, she was the gem that helped me the most, that's why I want my gift for her to be special."

Shi'ra nodded her head at his words, as she wrapped her hand around, "You know you can ask me for advice what to get her. I can help you with it. In fact, I was actually going into town to get my gift for Centi, and you can go with me. We both may figure out what to get for Spinel."

"Thanks, Shi'ra. I'd appreciate your help." Azurite said to her.

"You're like a brother to me, Azurite. It's my job to help you." Shi'ra smiled at him.

"If you think about me like that, so how about I got with you to get this gift for Centi, _sister_." Azurite smiled back at her.

"I'd love to, _brother_." Shi'ra continued to smile as they both headed into town.

* * *

Christmas has finally come one week later. The streets and houses of Little Homeworld were covered in various decorations, and many of the gem had decided to wear a red christmas hat because of todays ocassion, Spinel and Orange Pearl were one of them. Spinel tried to convice Azurite, Shi'ra, Centi and Jasper to wear one too, but they declined this offer.

As for now, Azurite along with Shi'ra, Spinel, Jasper, Centi and Orange Pearl were standing in the back of the crowd of gems, as Steven along with Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst stood on before a giant tree which was filled with decorations, from lamps to baubles.

When the lights were lit up, all of the gem in the crowd cheered, and once it died down, Steven exclaimed, "Everyone, now the time for the gifts has come!"

Everyone reacted to his words, and all of the gems began move towards the gems they bought gifts for, Orange Pearl, Spinel and Jasper being one of them.

Centi was about to move out too, but she was stopped by Shi'ra, who immediately showed her gift for Centi, "Now, you may now understand why I didn't want to tell any of you who I got."

Centi eyed the gift, and when she was that it was a supply of chaps, her eyes lit up, as she embraced Shi'ra, "Thank you, Shi'ra! I love this gift!"

Shi'ra hugged the former corrupted gem back, "Hey, that's what friends are for, right? I know how much you love to eat this thing."

"Hey, Azurite!" Azurite turned to the direction of the voice and saw Bismuth, walking over to him with a smile on her face, "Merry Christmas!"

"Bismuth." He greeted her back with a small bow of his head, "Likewise."

Bismuth pulled out a gift and handed it to him, a smile on her face, "So, Azurite. You see, I was the one who pulled your name from the basket."

Azurite took his gift from her and carefully opened it. His eyes shot open when he saw what was inside of the box. It was a pair of claws, "I experience it myself how well you can fight with your hands, and Orange Pearl even told us that you started to teach her everything you know about it, and I thought you could use a weapon that would give you advantage in that area than just your bare fists."

Azurite stared in awe at gift for a good moment. He admired how well made it was, "This is... very nice, Bismuth. Thank you."

Bismuth continued to smile, "We may have a rocky start, and even though we barely talk with each other, I can see that you mean no harm to any of us and that you did what you did because you were in a need of units."

"I'm glad you think like that about me. It means a lot." Azurite smiled back at her.

Bismuth reached her hand out and gave him a pat on his shoulder, "If you want to test them out. I left a piece of wood in the place where you're training Orange Pearl."

Azurite bowed his head to her in thankful manner, "Thanks for telling me. I'll certainly go there to test them out."

"Oh, and there will be another piece of wood there, but don't do anything to it. It is kept for another gem who is going to receive a gift similiar to yours." Bismuth explained.

Azurite nodded his head in understanding, "I'll keep that in mind."

He and Bismuth said their goodbyes to each other, as Azurite headed off to the training spot to try his new weapon out.

As he proceeded to walk there, he bumped into a similiar pink gem, "Sorry, Spinel."

"It's okay, Azzie. Where were you going?" She asked him.

"I was going to test out my new weapon, which was a gift from Bismuth." Azurite answered, as he held up his new weapon, showing it off to her.

"Wow." Spinel was in awe of Azurite's new weapon, "Can I go with you? I want to see what it can do."

"Sure." Azurite answered. It would be a good place to give her the gift he bought for her.

Spinel smiled at him, as they started walking towards the place where Azurite trained Orange Pearl. The first thing he saw after reaching this place were two huge pieces of wood, one for him, one for the other gem Bismuth mentioned. He and Spinel shared a quick look with each other and nodded. Spinel went to the crate he usually sat on when she came here to watch the training session between Azurite and Orange Pearl, as Azurite put the claws on his fists. He walked over to one of the pieces of wood, and swung his fist at it, slicing it in the half. He and Spinel stared in awe with their eyes wide open at the damage Azurite's new weapon did, before he swung it a few more times, until there were only a few pieces left of that piece of wood.

"Wow." Spinel said, still in awe of it.

"Wow, indeed." Azurite said as Spinel hopped off the crate and walked over to him.

"Bismuth really outdid herself with this weapon." Spinel stated.

"Yeah... Oh, and Spinel, there's something I need to tell you." Azurite told her, thinking that it was a good time to her present he bought for her.

"Yes?" Spinel asked him, curious what he was going to say.

"You were the one I got from that basket." Azurite said, pulling his gift out. It was placed in a small pink box.

Spinel's eyes shot open, as Azurite pushed gift towards her. A moment after, she chuckled, "That explains why you were so nervous when I asked you about that."

"You can say that." Azurite said with a nod of his head, as Spinel took her gift from him, wondering what he got her. She carefully opened it, not to damage the thing that was inside, and when it was finally opened she took a peek at what was inside.

It was a necklace. A little shape was nestled there with a silvery chain. It's charm was shaped in a heart, just like her gem.

"I hope you like it. You were one of the people that helped me the most after I came to this planet, and I wanted it to be something special." Azurite told her.

Spinel eyed her present for a moment, before looking up at Azurite, with stars in her eyes, "I love it Azzie! It's beautiful! Thank you so much!"

Azurite smiled at her and gestured towards her neck, "I'm glad you like it. Do you want me to..."

"Of course." Spinel said with a nod of her head.

Azurite took the necklace out of the box. He undid the tiny clasp on the necklace's chain, then put it around her neck, with the charm laying close to her throat.

When he was done with it, Azurite looked down at Spinel, with a smile on his face. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but didn't had a chance.

Because then something unexcepted that took him off the guard happened.

She kissed him in the cheek.

Azurite could feel his face getting more blue than usual,and he felt like he was about to explode. He could feel something in his stomach. It was a feeling he never felt before. He stared at Spinel, unsure of what to do, or say.

Spinel giggled at his stunned face, "Merry Christmas, Azzie!"

"Yeah... Merry Christmas to you too..." Azurite said back, trying not to sound awkwardly.

"Let's go to the others. I'm eager to show them my gift!" Spinel said, as she grabbed Azurite by his hand and started leading out of the place, only to be stopped by Orange Pearl.

"Hey, guys. There you are." She said to them.

"Hi, Orange! See what Azzie got me!" Spinel said, gesturing towards her necklace.

Orange's Pearl's gaze quickly went down to Spinel's neck, noticing the necklace, "It's beautiful."

"I know, right?!" Spinel said, as Azurite remained silent, "We were planning to show it to our friends. How about you'll go with us."

"I actually came here for a reason, but I can join you later." Orange Pearl said back, as she looked at Azurite, "Can I talk with Azurite for a moment? We'll join you in a moment."

"Okay. I'll see you guys in a moment." Spinel said, as she let go off Azurite's hand, and headed out to find Shi'ra, or Jasper, or Centi, or Steven.

"...Azurite? Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost." Orange Pearl stated, as she watched Spinel leave.

"Maybe I just did..." Azurite said, touching the cheek which Spinel kissed just a moment ago, before turning to Orange Pearl, "So, what are you doing here?"

In response to his question, Orange Pearl held up a pair of claws which looked similiar to his, "Heaven Beetle was the one that got me from the basket. She asked Bismuth to make a pair of claws, because she knew that you were training me. What about you?"

Azurite smiled as he held up his claws, "Ironically, Bismuth was the one who drew me, and she had similiar idea to Heaven Beetle."

Orange Pearl grinned, "I guess we may now use them during our training sessions."

"Maybe one day, Orange, but we are far away from that." Azurite assured her.

"I know. I'm just saying." Orange Pearl as she walked over to the other piece of wood, "Can you wait for me for a second? I'll just test it and then we'll go to the others."

"Sure." Azurite said back to her with a nod of his head.

As Orange Pearl tested her new claws on the piece of wood, Azurite just watched her, but his attention was not focused on her, but on his cheek.

He had a few encounters with women, especially during him the time when he and Dragan were traveling with Sydney, Osgar and Lambert, and had been kissed before in both cheeks and lips, but in all of those situations, he felt nothing during that.

Now it was completely different.

He actually felt something during that.

Did he have feelings for Spinel?

* * *

**We're done with the christmas chapter! Only one more chapter and we're off to Infinity War!**


	14. Happy New Year

It's been two days since Christmas, and the thing that was still on Azurite's mind the moment when Spinel kissed him in the cheek, and the feelings that exploded inside of his body when that happened. He didn't really knew what to think about them, because he had never felt something like that. Yes, he had experienced love before, from Aleena, her family and Shi'ra, but those feelings were in family-like way, this time, those feelings were something completely different.

He knew that he needed to talk with someone, but he didn't know with who. Jasper, Orange Pearl, and Centi were quickly erased from the list of the people he should talk to about it, even Shi'ra was out from the list, because, she told him many times that for as long as she remembered, she never felt any desire towards this type of things.

But then someone else came into his mind. He knew that these two people weren't the best people, but it was still better than nothing. He made his way to his room, once, he made sure that no one was nearby his room, and wasn't going to hear about what he was going to talk with these people, he shut the doors behind him. He went over to his bed and laid down on it, before activating the device on his arm.

A moment later, someone answered his call, and a familiar woman with two antennas on her head appeared on the screen, "Hey, Mantis." he greeted her.

"Hi, Azurite!" Mantis said in her usual innocent tone, waving her hand at him, "It's good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too." Azurite said back.

"How are you doing?" Mantis asked him. Azurite held back a chuckle, no matter how many times he called them, Mantis was always asking him this question. The last time was two days ago during Christmas, when he, Spinel, Jasper, Shi'ra, Centi and Orange Pearl callled them to give them their Christmas wishes. 

"I'm doing fine, I actually haven't felt like that for a long time." Azurite answered.

"I'm glad to hear that." Mantis said, her smile not leaving her face.

"Mantis, can you get Quill and Drax here? I want to talk with them about something in private." Azurite told her.

"Of course. There'll be here in a moment." Mantis said as she stood up from the seat and went to get Quill and Drax.

Azurite sighed deeply as he heard the sound of footsteps, walking towards the screen where the Guardians were receiving calls for messages from him, or other people. He actually started to have seconds thoughts about this, but he knew that there was no backing down from it now, when the two Guardians sat down on the seats before the screen.

"Hey, dude." Quill greeted him.

"Welcome, Azurite." Drax greeted him as well, right after Quill said his greetings.

"Hey, guys." Azurite greeted them back.

"Mantis said you wanted to talk with us about something in private." Quill said, wanting to be sure.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head. He sighed and braced himself for asking them this question, "I need to ask you both about something. You see, I think I may like someone."

"What's wrong with it, pal?" Quill asked him, thinking it was just in a friendly manner, just his crew with Azurite or Shi'ra.

"Not in that way, Quill..." Azurite said, feeling the blush that was growing on his face.

"...Oh..." Quill said in realization as Drax remained silent, just nodding his head to that.

"Yeah..." Azurite said, feeling even more nervous because of their reaction, "Quill. From what I heard about you, before you met Gamora you seemed to be constantly around women, and you Drax used to be married so I thought you were good people to ask about advice."

"So, who's the one that caught your attention?" Quill wanted to know. Drax seemed interested in it as well.

"You know her. She talked with you a few times... It's Spinel." Azurite said, taking a small break before saying Spinel's name.

"Spinel? She is a small and skinny gem. Disgusting." Drax said in a plain tone, "You must really care for her if you want to be with someone that ugly."

"Drax! She's not ugly! Besides not everyone has the same likes like as you." Quill pointed out.

"I'm just saying." Drax said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ignore him, pal. What made you think like that?" Quill asked him, getting interested in it. Azurite was one of the last people he excepted to ask him for advice about things like that.

"As you know, two days ago was Christmas and we were doing Secret Santa in Little Homeworld. and her name was the one I drew from the basket. After I gave her the gift I bought for her, she kissed me in the cheek. When that happened I started to feel something inside of me. I never felt anything like that before, and It was actually quite nice." Azurite explained. Quill could haves sworn he almost saw him blush.

Azurite sighed as he added, "I just want to know how to tell her about it. I've never been in a situation like this before..."

"Wait a second? You never?" Quill asked, clearly suprised by the revelation.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head, "That's why I'm calling you. As I said, I need some advice from you."

"I think you should try to bring her a token of your affection towads her. Like a jewel." Drax suggested.

"I don't think bringing her a jewel would work Drax. You see, the gift I got for her was a necklace with a jewel shaped in heart, like her gem." Azurite told them, shaking his head at his suggestion.

"Maybe then you should bringing a dead animal to impress. You see, when I first met my wife she terrified me. She was a warrior that striked fear into the hearts of everyone. I loved that about her. She'd make my nether regions engorge whenever I saw her." Drax said, not caring how the last part made Quill and Azurite uncomfortable, especially the latter one.

"Drax, please." Azurite said, not wanting to hear about it.

"Drax. We get that you're a sex machine and you have that from your dad." Quill added, not wanting to hear about that as well, "Besides, I don't know Spinel that well but she doesn't seem like a type of person to have dead shit dropped before her feet."

"I agree with Quill on this one, Drax. Spinel is not into it, at least I think so." Azurite said.

"How about you just tell you how you feel about her? Then ask her if she wants to do something with you two?" Quill suggested.

"What if do and she says no?" Azurite asked.

"You just have to accept it, buddy. You may believe me or not, but even I got rejected, many times." Quill answered.

Azurite took a sigh, "Thank you for your advice, guys."

"I was glad to give it to you. I'm glad that you're finally opening you for the others." Quill smiled at him to which Drax nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm glad you think like that... Oh, and Quill, I finally saw Footloose." Azurite said.

"Really? Tell me that it is the greatest movie in history." As if Quill wasn't already interested in the topic that Azurite shared with him, this made him even more interested.

"It was okay but I've seen better movies since I came here." Azurite said, shrugging his shoulders. It was true. He enjoyed Footloose, but it wasn't the best movie he's seen since he came to this planet. If he was honest with himself, the best one he saw so far, at least in his opinion was about some prisoner who was telling the story of how he became friends with another prisoner who then escaped from the prison.

Quill's interested expression faded and it looked someone just slapped him in the face, "What did yo..."

"Your face Quill!" Drax began laughing at Quill's offended face, cutting his captain off.

"Drax, be quiet. This is serious." Quill tried to shush Drax, in a very serious tone, causing Drax to laugh even more.

"Once again, thank you for your advice guys." Azurite thanked them both, before disconnecting from their talk.

* * *

_A few days later_

Today was the day that a lot of gems and humans were excited for. Today was the day of when one year ends and another begins, and it was probably one the reasons why so many of them were excited for it. The other thing everyone were excited about was a certain event.

That event was a firework show, and gems from Little Homeworld were especially looking forward to this event, because many of them have never seen anything like this before.

Many of them, both gem and humans had actually started to gather in one place, as there was like thirty minutes away from it. Azurite, Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi were one of the ones that were already there.

"Where's Spinel?" Orange Pearl asked her friends about the only gem that was missing, "It's been like fiftteen minutes since she left."

"Why are you so worried about it, Orange? You know it's like thirty minutes before this firework thing?" Jasper pointed out.

"I know, it's just, you all saw how excited she was for this. I don't want her to miss it." Orange Pearl explained.

"I can go get her if it will stop worrying you." Azurite volunteered, "Besides I think it'll be better than just standing and waiting."

"What? Do we bore you?" Shi'ra teased him, with fake gasp.

Azurite rolled his eyes at Shi'ra's unfunny attempt to annoy him, as he began to head out towards his house, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

It didn't took him that long before he made his way over to his house, and when he was about to walk inside, Spinel opened the doors "Hey, Azzie! What are you doing here?"

"You were gone for more than just a few minutes, and Orange was growing worried that you may actually miss the fireworks, so I told her that I'll go check what is taking you so long." Azurite explained.

"But, aren't we are over twenty minutes away from it?" Spinel pointed out as they slowly began making their back to Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi.

Azurite shrugged his shoulders, as he answered, "She just saw how excited you were about seeing those fireworks, and didn't want you miss it."

"Oh, that's so sweat of her." Spinel said, before adding, "And it was sweat of you to come here to make her stop worrying about it."

"If you say so. So what did you come back to our house?" Azurite wanted to know.

"Shi'ra wanted me to get her this." Spinel answered, pulling out Azurite's old camera.

"My camera? For what?" The owner of this camera asked.

"I don't know. Maybe she is going to take some photos of the fireworks?" Spinel said the first answer that came into her mind.

"Guess we're going to find out." Azurire stated, before gesturing towards the necklace he bought her for her Christmas gift, "You still wear this."

"Of course." Spinel said, glancing down at her necklace, "I love wearing it. It's so beautiful, and it reminds me of the friends I made here. You, Steven, Jassie, Shi'ra, Orange Pearl, Centi are only a few of the people that changed everything for me..."

As more words were leaving Spinel's mouth, Azurite could see tears forming in her eyes, "...Spinel? Why are you tearing up?"

"I'm just happy, Azzie." She told him, wiping the tears of her cheeks that slowly began to fall down her cheeks. Those weren't the tears of sadness, but of hapiness, "I haven't been that happy in a long time. At first, jst after finding out that Pink left me in the garden, I didn't know if I ever will know how it is when someone actually cares for you, but I do now.''

"Spinel, you know you don't have to worry about me, Shi'ra or Jasper, or even Orange and Centi leaving you. You're our friend, and we care about you." Azurite assured her as he put his hand on her cheek and wiped out the tear that was failing down her cheek, as Spinel looked up at him with a smile.

"I know that Azzie, and I'm grateful for that." Spinel smiled up at him, before asking,  
"What about you, Azzie? Do you like being here? In Little Homeworld"

"You know how skeptical I was about the idea of staying here after Steven offered it to me, but I don't regret doing it. As you know, Konoritos was the only time in my live when I felt whole. I felt like I belonged somewhere, until it all got taken from me. You know, how I at first was distancing myself to everyone for my first few weeks here, with you and Jasper being the only gems I talked with, but as the time passed, with your help, I started to open myself to the others and I made good friends here. I think I actually fell whole again... I found friends who I care for, and I hope that they care for me too. I even found a gem who I have feelings for..." Azurite said, feeling that his face suddenly got hotter than usual because of what he said at the end, without even realizing it at first.

"...Azzie... you like someone?" Spinel asked him, wanting to be sure of she didn't misheard it.

Azurite sighed. He knew that there was no backing down from it now. He sighed, before nodding his head, "Yes, I do."

"Who is that? I promise I won't tell anyone. You know how good I am at keeping secrets!" Spinel asked, interested in it. Azurite could see the hopeful look in her eyes.

He let out another sigh, as he began, "She is smaller than me. Her hair is tied into two ponytails, her gem is on her chest, and the last part about her... she is now standing right in front of me..."

"What?... You like me?..." Spinel asked, putting her hand on her gem as she realized about who Azurite was speaking of.

"Yes... I think I do. I had people who I saw as a family to me like Aleena, or Shi'ra, but my feelings towards you are completely different from them. Those feelings exploded in me when you kissed me in the cheek after I gave you this necklace. When I started thinking about it, I eventually came to a realization that I like you, more than a friend... Spinel what I'm going to ask you now is... Do you feel the same?" Azurite said to Spinel how he felt about her as the pink gem stared up at him in complete silence, witnessing the side of Azurite she hasn't seen before.

She proceeded to stare at Azurite for a moment which felt like eternity for him. His face was already covered by a huge blush which only grew bigger during the explanation of his feelings towards her. A moment later, a huge smile grew on Spinel's face, before she launched herself up at him, wrapping her hands around him in a tight hug.

"I do Azzie! I do feel the same! At first, I saw you as a friend, but as we started to hang out more often, I eventually started to have these strange feelings towards you, about which I had to talk with Steven about, who then told that I may actually like you, more than a friend. I didn't told you about them because I didn't think you'll be interested in me, but now, you're the one telling me that you feel the same!" She shouted in response. Azurite could hear genuine hapiness in her voice.

"...I'm glad to hear that." Azurite said back, not knowing what to say about it. He wrapped his hands around her, returning the hug, happy that Spinel returned his feelings.

When they released each other from the hug, she asked him "Does this mean?"

"If you want to, I'm willing to give it a try." Azurite told her, with a smile growing on his face.

"Then I want to! I'm more than happy to see if this will work!" Spinel said, nodding her head.

"That makes us both." Azurite now fully smilling, before asking, "So? What should we do now?... Should we tell Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange and Centi about this?"

"We should do this!" Spinel said as she extended her hands at him, and brought his face down at her. Azurite was about to ask her what was she doing, but he was quickly cut off as Spinel kissed him. At first, he was suprised, but eventually decided to go along with it. The kiss was a little awkward, because Spinel never kissed anyone before, and while Azurite kissed a few people in his life, he wasn't an expert in this area.

It was the last thing they felt before everything went black for both of them.

What they didn't know was that there was a bright light in this place, and what came out of it was a new gem that laid on the ground for the next few moments before she stared to wake up. She opened her eyes, Azurite and Spinel were still unaware of what had just happened, and what made them lose their consciousness.

"Oh, my head." The voice that was unknown for them said. It was something they failed to notice, yet.

"What happened? Azzie. Where are you?" Much to Azurite's suprise her voice sounded the same as his. He brought his hand to his mouth to cover it, before he found himself failing on the ground, with Spinel landing not too far from him.

"Wait a second? Did we just?" He asked, as they stared at each other.

"We fused..." Spinel stated.

The fusion of Azurite and Spinel just sat on the ground for a moment, neither Azurite or Spinel believing in what just happened, before they heard a familiar voice of Orange Pearl call them, "Azurite! Spinel! Where are you!? It's like ten minutes before fireworks!"

"_They're coming._" Azurite spoke to Spinel, this time communicated with her through the fusions head, not wanting them to hear them.

"_What should we do?_" Spinel asked him,

"_I have no idea, I've never been in a situation like this before._" Azurite told her.

"_Neither have I." _Spinel pointed out, before chuckling to herself, "_However, it would be a good idea to tell them that we're giving each other chance at being together._"

"_What are you talking about?_" Azurite asked her.

"_C'mon, Azzie, if they're going to see us, I'm certain they're going to ask us where we are, and then boom we unfuse! Their reactions are going to be priceless!_" Spinel explained to him, having a quick laugh at her own idea.

"_If we even going to go along with it_. _What would you even call a fusion between a Spinel and a Azurite?_" He asked her.

"_I'm sure we'll figure something out..._" Spinel was cut off in the middle of the sentence, as Shi'ra called over to them.

"Hey, you! Can you you help us with something?" was what Shi'ra said to them, as she, Jasper and Orange Pearl approached the fusion.

"...Of course." The fusion said, awkwardly, standing up from the ground, "What can I do for you?"

"We've been looking for two friend of ours. As you know the new year is going to start in a few minutes, and we don't want to them to miss the fireworks, especially Spinel. She seemed really excited about it." Orange Pearl explained.

"And who are you? I've never seen you here before." Jasper said.

"Right." Shi'ra said, realizing that she never saw this gem before as well, "Are you new here?"

"Yes...I'm _Lolite_. It's a pleasure to meet you." Lolite introduced herself to them, having a small break in the middle to have a moment of thought about her name, before extending her hand for a handshake.

"Likewise, Lolite." Shi'ra said, shaking her hand, unaware that Azurite and Spinel were standing right before her, Jasper and Orange Pearl, "I'm Shi'ra, these two are Jasper and Orange Pearl."

"So, with the introductions done, how can I help you?" Lolite asked.

"As Orange here said, we've been looking for two friends of ours. You maybe seen them, Spinel is a pink gem that has a gem in her chest. It is in a shape of a heart..." Shi'ra was cut off before she could explain how Azurite looked like.

"Oh, I think I saw them." Lolite cut in, "Was her friend blue?"

"Yes. He was. Where did you saw them?" Shi'ra wanted to know.

"They're here." Lolite said, as Shi'ra, Jasper and Orange Pearl shared a confused look together.

"Where? I can't see them." Jasper said what was on their minds, looking around.

"No. Here." Lolite put her hand on her stomach, making the others even more confused. She began to glow, and a moment later she defused into Spinel and Azurite. Spinel had a huge smile on her face and even Azurite had a smile on his usually stoic face as they held hands.

Shi'ra, Jasper and Orange Pearl stared at the two gems before them for a moment, trying to process what had just transpired, before the pearl of the group said, with wide eyes, "What..."

Spinel stared at them, before she began to laugh at their stunned faces, "Your faces!"

As Jasper and Orange Pearl proceeded to stare at the gem before them, a smirk eventually grew on Shi'ra face, as she said, "So, Spinel, I assume that you told him?"

"No, I didn't!" Spinel shook her head, before gesturing at Azurite, "He did."

Shi'ra turned her gaze from Spinel to Azurite who just shrugged his shoulders at her with a smile, "See, I told he'd return your feelings."

"Wait a second? You went to Shi'ra?" Azurite asked, glancing down at Spinel.

Spinel rubbed the back of her head with her free hand, "Well, you two are best friends, so I thought she was the best person I could ask about if you're going to... you know."

"So, I take that you're together, now?" Shi'ra asked, her smirk not leaving her face.

"Yup! We're giving it a try!" Spinel said with a nod of her head.

"Well, then I..." Shi'ra was cut off by Orange Pearl.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but we better hurry, if we don't want to miss fireworks." Was what she said.

"You're right." Shi'ra said, as she turned back and was about to head to the spot where they were going to watch fireworks, "Let's go, Centi is holding our places."

The others quickly followed her, a moment later, they made their way to the spot where Centi was waiting for them. It was not too far from the table with snacks and drinks, "You took your time." was what she said to them, as they walked up to her.

"Something kept us occupied." Jasper said, sending a look to Spinel and Azurite who still held hands with each other.

"What was that?" Centi asked.

"You'll find out eventually." Jasper said in response, earning a confused look from Centi.

"Now, that we're all here." Shi'ra turned to Azurite and Spinel, "Azurite, Spinel can you get each of us a glass of water?"

"Why?" Azurite asked as Spinel nodded her head, wanting to know the reason too.

"You know for what, brother." Shi'ra said.

"...Oh." Azurite said in response, as a small smile began to form on his face, "You could have just said so."

"What is it, Azzie?" Spinel asked him.

"You'll see in a moment." Azurite answered, as they went to the table, and got the drinks ready for everyone. Azurite carried one for himself, while Spinel carried the other five, with her extending limbs, it wasn't actually much of a problem to her.

When she and Azurite made it back to the others, she opened her mouth and was about to say what Jasper meant by that, but she was cut off by Steven informing them that there were only thirty seconds remaining until the new year.

After it went down to ten, a lot of them began to count down, Spinel, Orange Pearl and Centi being one of them as Azurite, Jasper and Shi'ra just nodded their heads to that.

"10!"

"9!"

"8!"

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Once the counting went down to zero, everyone cheered loudly, as the fireworks began to fly up, into the air, and when they reached a certain point, they began to explode, painting the sky with various colours. Azurite now understood why many humans were excited about this, and why so many gems were looking forward to see it for the first time. It was a really, a very, very nice sight and he definetely enjoyed watching it.

As they proceeded to watch the fireworks for the next few minutes, Shi'ra pulled out a very small bottle which was filled with strange white liquor, "Now that everyone is celebrating new year and Spinel is still holding those glasses. As I said earlier, I have something I want you to taste."

"What's that?" Orange Pearl asked with raised eyebrow, as Spinel gave all of them glasses of water.

"An alcohol that I stole from thieves who stole it from the Asgardians a few years ago. They had five barrels. I sold three and kept the other two for myself. You would be suprised how much people are willing to pay for it." Shi'ra explained.

Azurite who already knew what it was, pushed his glass of water towards Shi'ra who the poured one drop of it into it.

"Why only one drop?" Jasper asked to which Orange Pearl, Centi and Spinel nodded their heads in agreement, as Shi'ra did the same thing with their drinks.

"Because If I'll give you two, you're going to be laying drunk on the ground in a few minutes, trust me I tried. I didn't tried three because it would probably kill me." Shi'ra explained,

"Oh." Jasper said in response.

As Orange Spodumene and Bixbite walked just by them, Shi'ra shouted to them, "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Shi'ra!" Spodumene greeted her back, as they came over to Shi'ra and the rest, "Happy new year!

"Same to you too. Can you help us with something?" Shi'ra asked them.

"Sure, what is it?" Bixbite asked her.

In response to her question, Shi'ra pulled out the camera that Azurite got from Darnel, "Can you take us a photo as we clink glasses?"

"Sure thing." Bixbite said, taking the camera from her, even though one of her hands was a large claw, she didn't seem to have any difficulty with holding the camera.

"Well, friends. Let's hope that this year is going to be better than last one." Shi'ra said, as Bixbite nodded her head at them, telling them that everything was ready.

"Cheers!" Orange Pearl and Spinel said in unison as Azurite, Jasper and Centi just nodded their heads to that. All six of them clinked their glasses, before they dug into their drinks, but before they did that, they made sure that Bixbite took the photo of them.

Azurite and Shi'ra reactions to it were normal to it before they tasted it before, and even before tasting this liquor, they tried drinks with alcohol, and much to their suprise Jasper's reaction was pretty much the same. As for the others... Orange Pearl began to cough, after having only one sip, as Centi and Spinel had to take a very deep breath, with their faces showing that were disgusted by the drink.

"So, how did it taste?" Shi'ra asked, with a smirk growing on her face.

"How can you drink it?" Spinel asked to which Centi nodded her head in agreement.

"The taste was so sour..." Orange Pearl agreed with her.

"Believe me, first time is always the hardest, then you get used to it." Azurite told them.

"Yup." Shi'ra agreed with him, as she looked over at Jasper, "What about you?"

"I tried alcohol before, so I at least I knew what to except, but I admit, I had a hard time keeping straight face, because I never tasted anything that strong before." Jasper answered.

Shi'ra nodded her head in understanding as Bixbite handed her back Azurite's camera, "Thanks for taking it, guys. You want to taste it too?"

Bixbite and Orange Spodumene shared a look with each other, before shaking her heads, "No, thank you for the offer, but neither of us are fans of drinks like this."

"Are you sure?" Shi'ra wanted be sure, earning nods of confirmation from the two gems. She wasn't exactly sure if they tried something like that before, but if they didn't want to try it, then they had right to, "Okay, then."

A few minutes after saying their goodbyes, and wishing happy new year to Bixbite and Orange Spodumene who then left to do their own things, a music could be heard, and many gems and humans went to dance in one place.

Spinel noticed it and nudged Azurite, "Let's go dance with them, Azzie."

"No." Azurite instantly declined this offer, shaking his head.

"C'mon. It'll be fun." Spinel said, as she grabbed Azurite's hand and began to drag him to the gems that were dancing.

"I have no idea how to dance, Spinel." Azurite informed her.

"I'll show you!" Spinel said, as she began dragging him by his hand to the dance floor.

"Have fun, brother!" Shi'ra shouted to Azurite, internally laughing at his panicked face.

"Do you think they're going to fuse again?" Orange Pearl asked Jasper and Shi'ra who shared a quick look with each other before shrugging their shoulders.

"We'll see." Jasper replied for them both.

"Wait?... _Are Spinel and Azurite going to fuse?_ What did I missed?" Centi asked all three of them.

* * *

_A few months later_

Location: Space

The saying that Thor Odinson was not having a good week was the understatement of the century. It all started to go down for him after slaying Surtur, a being that would later destroy Asgard, his home, and after defeating him he went to his home planet for the first time in years, only to find out that this adopted brother Loki who he thought died a few years ago was alive, and was ruling Asgard in the disguise of his father, Odin who he left in one place on Earth, and a few minutes after finding their father, he died of an old age, but before he died, he told them about their sister Hela, whom they met only a few moments later, and destroyed his hammer Mjolnir.

It all eventually lead him to ending up on a planet called Sakaar where came across his old friend Bruce Banner and the person who took him there happened to be a Valkyrie, which was quite suprising for him, because everyone in Asgard, including himself were certain that all Valkyries were long gone. After teaming up with each other, they eventually managed to left Sakaar and headed straight to Asgard, where they faced Hela, which unfortunely ended up with him losing one of his eyes.

But it wasn't the thing that worried him the most. The only way to defeat her was to unleash Surtur and let him destroy Asgard, which they did, but it resulted in complete destruction of their home, but thankfully they managed to save as many people as they could.

As for now, he and his brother, Loki stood at the windshield of the ship, gazing out at the stars.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to go back to Earth?" His brother Loki asked him. They were planning to go to Earth where they would start over.

"Sure. People love me on Earth, I'm very popular..." Thor answered, not understanding what Loki meant by that.

"Let me rephrase that." Loki cut in, "Do you really think it's a good idea to bring me back to Earth?"

Thor smiled and reached his hand out to pat Loki on his shoulders, "Probably not to be honest, but don't worry brother... I've got feeling that everything is going to work out."

The two men turned to the window with smiles on their faces.

Neither of them could see a massive warship approaching their sanctuary...

* * *

**I guess you can say that the scene between Thor and Loki at the end was something like the after credit scene in a Marvel movie.**

**All of the characters in this chapter - *Are happy***

**Thanos - "Allow me to introduce myself"**

**I hope that the romance part between you and Spinel wasn't the cringiest thing you've ever read, also with this chapter** ** we're finally done with the arc when you settle down in Little Homeworld. I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it, I especially enjoyed writing the part between you, Quill and Drax.**

**Funfact: Shi'ra and her spieces are heavily inspired by Yautjas (The Predators from the Predator movies, games and comic books).**

**Funfact 2: Shi'ra is asexual.**

**Anyway, hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.**


	15. Preview for Infinity War

**I own nothing except for my OC's, and some parts of the plot.**

**If I owned Infinity War I'd probably give Black Order more screentime.**

**If I owned SU, I'd have Centi already make an appearence in SU Future episodes, instead of just an intro. I hope we'll see her once the hiatus is over.**

**Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.**

**Suprise! A double update! W** **ith the recent chapter confirming that the next one is going to be the start of Infinity War, I decided to small a post a small preview to this event, right after posting the recent chapter.**

* * *

Up in the sky, a meteor shaped object was descending down on the city of Manhattan.

"The entire time I knew him. He only ever had one goal." Gamora spoke up.

At the Avengers tower, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes all looked up at the sky.

"To wipe out half of the universe."

Azurite was having a video conversation with the Guardians of the Galaxy through the device on his hand. It was really easy to say that the thing he was told by her made him very, very nervous. Spinel who was standing next to him was seemed to be as nervous as he was.

"If he gets all the infinity stones. He could do it with the snap of his fingers." Gamora snapped her fingers, to clarify her point, "Just like that."

Tony Stark, looking clearly disturbed by the news said, "Tell me his name, again."

"Thanos."

Thanos removed his helmet from his head.

Peter Parker put his spider-man mask on, before he swinging into action.

"We've got one advantage." Tony stated.

The ship began to depart from New York, as Tony in his Iron Man suit flew after it.

"He's coming to us."

Steven with Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth by his side, looked at Azurite, Spinel, Jasper and Shi'ra, as the gems from Little Homeworld were surrouding them.

"What can we do."

Doctor Strange was looking towards someone, as he activated the Eye of Agamoto.

"We have what Thanos wants."

Wanda Maximoff looked down at Vision who was breathing heavilly.

"So that's what we use."

The Avengers arrive in the nation of Wakanda, where king T'Challa greets Captain America with a handshake.

Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax and Mantis walked out of the their ship, and the first things they saw were Jasper, Lapis and Peridot standing in front of Shi'ra's ship, ready to help them in whatever they were doing.

"Let's talk about this plan of yours." Peter Quill was talking with Tony, as Drax, Jasper, Lapis and Peridot were watching the conversation between these two, "I think it's good, except is sucks."

The trio of gems shared a besumed glances with each other.

"So let me do the plan, and that way, it might be very good." Quill said, confidently.

"Wow." was Tony's response.

The armies of Wakanda flew out of the city into the field where they were going to face the forces of Thanos, as Falcon and War Machine flew above them.

T'Challa and Steve shared a look with each, ready for battle.

On Homeworld, Azurite, Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Shi'ra, Pearl, Bismuth and Spinel were talking with the Diamonds, informing them about the recent revelation they got from the Guardians.

"The end in near." Thanos said.

Rocket, Groot, Azurite, Steven, Shi'ra, Bismuth and Spinel stood along with Thor as he raised his hand up, as the lightning exploded around them.

Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst were in Little Homeworld, gathering every gem that decided to join the fight, as Garnet had Shi'ra device on her arm, waiting for a message from someone.

"When I'm done." Thanos continued, slowly, "Half of humanity will still exist."

Thanos gripped Thor's head who screamed in pain as Black Order with Proxima Midnight aiming her spear at Loki stood before him.

The Mad Titan crushed Tesseract to get the Space Stone.

On the Earth, Winter Soldier prepared his rifle, Steve readied his new shield as Black Panther brought out his claws.

"Perfectly balanced."

Azurite sliced through one outrider, getting rid of him, before his attention was completely shifted when he saw Proxima Midnight, standing not too far from him. His eyes became dark with hate for the woman he just spotted, remembering how she was the one who separated him from Aleena during the cleansing of Konoritos.

With a clench of his fists, he started making his way over to her.

"As all things should be."

Doctor Strange created platforms to allow Quill and Jasper to jump across the field, as Lapis fired a giant beam of water at Thanos.

Garnet brought her gauntlets down at to one of the Outriders, as humans and gems both were fighting off The Mad Titan's forces in Wakanda.

Shi'ra roared as she charged forward herself with her spear in ready as her plasma caster was aiming itself at someone in front of her.

Star-Lord was in the air, firing his gun as Peridot used her metal powers to lift a very old piece of the metal from the ground and pushed it at Thanos, to distract him, as Jasper jumped right above his head.

One gem, a Ruby with a gem in her eyeball was pinned down to the ground by two outriders, then both of them were cut in the half by Spinel.

A heavily beaten up Jasper with really damaged helmet shot up from her knees, and charged at the Mad Titan.

Doctor Strange yelled in agony as Ebony Maw held up at mocking "Shh..."

"I hope they remember you." Thanos said in a respectful tone towards beaten up Tony Stark.

Thanos brought his hand down, only to get it caught by Captain America who was struggling with all he had to to hold Thanos back, who gritted his teeth in frustation as Cap roared back.

* * *

**And here we are with the preview for the event that was set up for most of the story. **

**I'll see you in another chapter!**


	16. The End is Near

It was absolute chaos aboard the Asgardian Refugee ship.

The attack had completely taken all of the people inside of it off the guard and Thor instantly ordered to evacuate all of the people in the escape pods, leaving Brunnhilde, the last of Valkyries and Korg, one of the Sakaaran gladiators to lead the evacuation.

But, the moment the Chitauri got into their ship, was the moment when the chaos has begun. Everyone who weren't lucky enough to get into the escape pods at the time were massacred by the Chitauri.

As for now, the only thing that was coming out of this ship was a transmission that was repeated over and over again to the universe.

"_This is the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman. We are under assault, I repeat, we are under assault - The engines are dead, life support failing. Requesting aid from any vessel within range. We are 22 jump points out of Asgard. Our crew is made up of Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is not a warcraft. I repeat, this is not a warcraft!_"

Inside of the ship, Ebony Maw, one of the members of the Black Order was walking over the lifeless bodies, as he began,

"Hear me and rejoice!"

The bodies of the Asgardian warriors...

"You have had the privilage of being saved by the Great Titan!"

The gladiators from Sakaar...

"You may think this is suffering, no, it is _salvation_.''

The Asgardian civilians...

Heimdall, former guard of Asgard's Bifrost Bridge who was one of the lucky ones that survived their ambush laid on the ground, clenching his wounded stomach as he was gasping for a breath. He stared up as the member of the Black Order passed him, before his gaze went to Corvus Glaive, another member of the Black Order as he stabbed one of the wounded Asgardians with his glaive, finishing him off.

"Universal scales tipped towards balance because of your sacrifice!"!"

Men, women... _children_...

"Smile for even in death, you have become children of Thanos..." Ebony Maw finished his speech as he stopped himself next to the other children of Thanos.

Loki Odinson, the God of Mischief, and the person responsible for the invasion of New York a few years ago was surrounded by all members of the Black Order as he was staring at Thanos. Proxima Midnight had her spear aimed at him, just in case if the God of Mischief had any tricks under his sleeve, even though the possibility of it was very small.

Thanos, the Mad Titan was standing before the large window of the ship. Loki knew which window it was. He and his brother were just talking with each other about their future plans while looking at the cosmos through it, just moments before the attack

"I know what it's like to lose." The Mad Titan spoke up as he turned to Thor, the God of Thunder and one of the Avengers who was laying on the ground. He grabbed him by his breastplate and lifted him up to his knees, "To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless." He squazzed Thor, causing him to let out cry of pain, "Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same."

Thanos stopped before Loki, as he held up the golden gauntlet on his hand, revealing that the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones was already in it, "And now it's here, or should I say I am."

Thor spit blood out of his blood, "...You talk too much..."

Thanos now held Thor by his head, moving the gauntlet closer to Thor's head, with the Power Stone glowing slightly, "The Tesseract, or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference.''

"Oh, I do. Kill away." Loki smirked in response, waving his hand, to show that it wouldn't matter to him if something happened to his brother.

The Mad Titan turned the gauntlet to press the Power Stone to Thor's left temple. The Power Stone glowed brightly as Thor began to scream in agony.

Loki cringed at his brother's screams, as he was trying to keep straight, not to show that it hurt him to see what was happening to his brother. It lasted a very short moment, before he shouted, "Alright! Stop!"

''...We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard." Thor exclaimed, gasping for a breath.

Loki bit his lip at that. If Thor only knew how wrong he was right now. He raised his hand in the air and the Tesseract appeared in the view of all of them.

"You really are the worst, brother..." Thor muttered, glaring at Loki.

"I assure you, brother... _the sun will shine on us again_.'' Loki said, holding the blue clube before himself, and slowly walking towards Thanos.

''Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian.'' Thanos stated.

''Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian." Loki pointed out, "And for another. We have a Hulk."

Thanos looks to his right just as a green and very angry mass slams into him as Loki dived to Thor, pulling both of them out of the way as the Tesseract was sent flying across the room. The Hulk proceeded to punch Thanos all over his body, forcing the Mad Titan backwards and shoving him into the wall of the ship.

Cull Obsidian stepped forward, but Ebony Maw stopped him from interfering, "Let him have his fun."

The Hulk held Thanos against the wall for a moment, before the latter one began to pry his hands away. An expression of suprise and confusion grew on the Hulk's face, and when it was finally a good moment to strike back, Thanos punched him in the neck, causing him to step backwards in pain. The Hulk held his hand to his neck as he tried to punch Thanos with the other one, but it did nothing, as Thanos easily ducked his blow. He was sent forward, giving Thanos the ocassion to punch him in the back. He quickly turned back around to Thanos where he tried to punch him, but once again, it did nothing, as Thanos ducked this attack as well. The Hulk's became even more confused, and it since then he was just beaten, without giving the Mad Titan any problem. Thanos applied strong blows onto the weak points that the Hulk didn't even know existed.

When he backed down to clench those points, it was when Thanos fully unloaded on him. Every blow was so strong, that it would surely kill a normal human being by only one punch. The Hulk was abused and tossed around like a ragdoll, or a toy that a child didn't want to play with anymore. Thanos' punches were simply too fast for him, and he couldn't simply strike back at this moment. The Mad Titan finished a rather short fight between him and the Hulk by driving the latter one's face into his kneecap, which was followed by a sickiening crunch.

Thanos lifted him, above his head, and then slammed him down onto the floor of the ship.

And with that, the Incredible Hulk laid on the floor, beaten and defeated.

Then, completely out of nowhere Thor slammed a metal bar across Thanos' back but it didn't do nothing to the Mad Titain who kicked him across the deck by and when he was getting himself back on his feet, he was bound in metal debris by Ebony Maw to keep him from interfering further.

"...Allfathers…" Thor could hear Heimdall's voice as he glanced over to the wounded man, holding his hand to the beaten Hulk, "Let the dark magic flow through me one last... time.''

When Thor realized what Heimdall was doing, a light began to glow int the ship as Bifrost was summoned whick takes the Hulk out of the ship.

Thanos shook his head as he made his way over to the Asgardian, "That was a mistake."

"No!" Thor's grief stricken scream was heard all over the ship as after Thanos borrowed Corvus Glaive's glaive and stabbed Heimdall straight in the heart with it, "You're going to die for that!"

Ebony Maw covered his lips with two pieces of metal and held up a mocking, "Shh..."

Then, the child of Thanos picked up the the Tesseract from where it had fallen and held it up, before getting himself on his knee, offering it to Thanos who slowly started to take his armor off, ''My humble personage… bows before your grandeur. No other being has ever had the might, nay the nobility, to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp.''

Thor watched in horror as Thanos took the Tesseract from Ebony Maw and crushed it to pieces, revealing the Space Stone hidden inside. He admired it for a second, before placing it down on his gauntlet beside the Power Stone.

"There are two more stones on the Earth." He said, looking over at his children, "Find them my children and bring them to me on Titan."

Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight all bowed to their father, with Proxima saying to him, "Father we will not fail you."

"If I might interject…" Loki spoke up, as everyone turned to him, "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that arena."

"If you consider failure experience." Thanos frowned, unimpressed.

"I consider _experience_, experience.'' Loki explained, walking over to the Mad Titan, "Almighty Thanos, I... Loki... Prince of Asgard..." He glanced over at Thor before continuing, "Odinson... the rightful King of Jotunheim... God of Mischief... do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity."

Thor noticed something coming out of Loki's sleeve. It was a dagger. Loki braced himself, and thrustedupward with lightning speed and attempts to stab Thanos, but was frozen in place by the Space Stone's before the point could strike.

"_Undying_. You should choose your words more carefully." Thanos stated, as he took the dagger out of Loki's hand. He took hold of Loki and lifted him up to his eye level. The God of Mischief could feel his throat being squeezed as he struggled to break himself free, but unfortunely he couldn't do anything to break himself free from Thanos' grasp.

With one final breath, Loki struggled but eventually managed to say, "...You will never be... a _God_..."

Thanos only smiled at Loki's words, as he squeezed him only last time, breaking his beck.

"No!" Thor's scream was muffled by the pieces of metal that were still covering his lips, as Thanos threw his brother's body on the ground, right before him.

"No resurrections this time." He said as he raised his gauntlet, sending the violet power fire through the remains of the ship, before using the Space Stone to teleport himself and the Black Order away.

The moment after they left, Thor broke himself away the bonds. All he could do was to in horror at his brother's lifeless body, as he slowly crawled over to it, putting his head on his brother's chest, shedding tears for all that he has just lost.

It was only moments before the ship exploded, with him still being inside...

* * *

Location: Space

This day started off as any other day for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Flying by a few cluster of planets, listening to Quill's Zune and to the songs they've never heard before in their lives, save for their captain, of course. Then, completely out of the blue, their communicator started to go crazy, and they received a call that there was a ship under ambush or something like that, and they decided to answer to their call and help them.

As the ship was flying towards the place from which the all came from, Quill turned his zune on, and one of his songs was playing across the ship.

Peter was sitting in the front, absolutely lost in the music. He mouthed all the words. And he was careless in how he sang and danced in his seat. Gamora was singing too, as the other Guardians were minding their own things.

"C'mon!" Quill exlaimed, "Sing it Drax!"

Drax only responded with a snore. He was asleep

"Why are we doing this?" Rocket asked.

"It's a distress call, Rocket." Gamora pointed out, annoyed, "Someone could be dying."

"I get it, but why we're doing this?" Rocket repeated his question.

"Cause we're nice." Quill responded with a small pause, "And maybe whoever it is will give us a little cheddar for our help."

"Which isn't the point." Gamora said, pointing at Quill.

Quill pointed at Gamora, "Which isn't the point... I mean... If he doesn't pony up..."

Rocket nodded his head, going along with what Quill was saying, "We'll take his ship."

"B-b-b-bingo!" Quill laughed, now pointing in Rocket's direction.

Gamora looked up at Quill from her seat, glaring at him, and in response he, almost instantly shook his head. She shook her head, with a unamused look on her face.

Mantis from her chair was staring at the navigator screen as she exclaimed, "We are arriving."

"All right, Guardians. Don't forget this might be dangerous, so let's put on our mean faces." Quill told everyone, to which Mantis did her mean face, showing off her perfectly white teeth. He looked up behind him to see Groot still playing his game, "Groot, put that thing away." Groot didn't even reacted to his call, "Now, I don't want to tell you again." Still nothing, Groot's attention was completely on his game, as if nothing around him existed at this moment, "Groot."

"I am Groot." Groot mocked him, taking his eyes of the game for a second.

Quill's eyes widened, clearly taken off the guard by the insult, "Whoa!"

"Hey!" Gamora shouted to Groot.

"Language!" Rocket scolded Groot.

"Wow..." Drax who was now awake said in awe.

"You got some acorns, kid." Quill stated, shaking his head. At least he knew now how Yondu felt when he was going through the same phase as Groot, now.

Rocket huffed as he shook his head. He pointed at Groot, with his attention focused on Groot's video game as he said, "Ever since you got your little sap, you're a total d-hole. Keep that thing up and I'm going to smash this thing to pieces!"

Groot rolled his eyes, knowing that Rocket was not going to do this. The raccoon always had soft spot for him, which he of course was trying to hid from his fellow Guardians.

As Rocket finished what he was saying, their ship came out of hyperspace, to reveal nothing but a graveyard to them. Dozens if not hundreds lifeless bodies floated through the vastness of space, with pieces of destroyed ship flying next to them. The ship wasn't actually entirely destroyed and there was half of it left, but if there were any people that survived whatever happened to them, they'd be dead by now.

The entire crew had gone silent at this view. They were too late...

"What happened?" Mantis asked, clearly disturbed by the view.

"Looks like we're not getting paid." Rocket said, trying to lit up the situation by making a joke, but no one laughed at it, even himself.

Not long, maybe a few seconds after he said that, a body slammed onto the hull of the ship.

"Wipers! Get it off! Get it off!" Rocket shouted, waving his palm around, and a moment later the body's eyes opened and everyone gave a starled yelp.

This man was still alive! But how...

Gamora's eyes widened at this view, as she instantly commanded, "Get him inside."

Quill glanced at her, as he rised up from his seat, "On it, Gam. Rocket, Drax. You're with me."

The three Guardians got to the person that slammed into the windshield of the Guardian's ship was eventually brought into their ship and put on the table in one of the rooms in their ship, but it actually took them quite a while to do so. Everyone were now staring at the man, with many thoughts about him going through their heads.

"How the hell is this dude still alive?" Quill asked what was on some of their minds, breathing heavilly from bringing this man here.

Drax shook his head, "He's not a dude, you're a dude, this... this is a man. A handsome, muscular man..."

"I'm muscular." Quill said, feeling bit a jealous.

"Who are you kidding, Quill. You're one sandwich from fat." Rocket snorted, as he pointed to his stomach area.

"Yeah, right." Quill scoffed, thinking it was just another one of Rocket's attempts to annoy him.

"It's true. You have gained a little weight." Drax said, motioning to Quill's chin and belly with his hands, "Even Azurite and Spinel think like that."

"What?" Quill wasn't excepting that Drax was going to mention these two in this discussion.

"I've talked with Azurite and the gem he grew to cherish a few days ago. He asked me if I noticed that Quill gained a little weight. Spinel asked me about that as well, she noticed it, even though she doesn't know you that well." Drax explained.

"I'm going to have a little conversation with them after this." Quill said, staring up at Drax in disablief as he turned to Gamora who was circling around the table, hoping that someone was going to take his side, "Gamora do you think I'm..."

Gamora bit her lip, and hesitated to answer, so at the end, she decided to not answer to this question.

Quill was about to ask her again about that, but was interrupted by Mantis, who gently paid her hand on the man's forehead, "He is anxious, angry. He feels tremendous loss, guilt..."

"It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel." Drax commented, still in awe at well this man built.

"Wow..." Quill sniffed, "This is a real wake-up call for me. Okay. I'm gonna get a Bow-flex. I'm gonna commit. I'm gonna get some dumbbells.''

''You know you can't eat dumbbells, right?" Rocket pointed out.

Gamora lifted the man's hand up, and began stroking his triceps, much to the jealousy of Quill, "It's like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibers.''

"Stop massaging his muscles." It was obvious that Quill was uncomfortable because of the fact that his girlfriend was sizing up another man. Gamora dropped the man's hand on the table almost instantly with annoyed expression on her face, as Quill turned towards Mantis and said, avoiding Gamora's gaze, "Wake him up."

Mantis nodded her head and slowly placed her hand on the man's forehead, "...Wake."

The man awoke immediately, which frightened Mantis a bit. He got himself off the table and put his back to the opposite wall, and eyed the people before him for a moment, before asking them.

"Who the hell are you guys?"

* * *

**And here we go with Infinity War!**

**With this chapter we're slowly nearing the halfway of this story. I may a few ideas relating the next story I can do for Steven Universe when I'll be done with this one.**

**One of them ** **is an AU with you being a part of the cast since the first episode. ** **(in this AU Pink/Rose would track you down when you were in your ship, and offer you a place as a crystal gem in her rebellion, ** **which you would accept, and would eventually getting accepted by the crystal gems for what you are, ** **and everything related to Marvel would be cut out. Your gem name would still be Azurite)**

**The other idea is also an male reader story, where male reader is a host to our favourite symbiote (Venom), and you eventually join our heroes (because for first few chapter in this story, you've been hiding from them the fact that you are a host to Venom)**

**Oh, and in both of those stories there eventually would be so lovey-dovey between you and Peridot, because there aren't many PeridotxMale Reader stories around. There won't be romance between you and Spinel in the story when you're with the crystal gems since the first episode, because you two wouldn't met each other until the movie.**

**I also, have in mind an idea for a CentixMaleReader story. All I can say about it, because I'm still figuring out a lot of thinks about this story, is that the reader is Lars cousin who was spending his holiday with his cousin and his family, and you met Centi after Steven wanted you to look after her when she was partially uncurropted, and this story would be about you coming to Beach City to spent your holiday there, again.**

**Also, a question for you. Who's your favourite one from the Black Order? Personally, my favourite one was Ebony Maw.**


	17. This is it

About half an hour after waking up, the man who was introduced himself as Thor Odinson to the Guardians was sitting on a stool with grey blanket draped over his shoulders. Thor had explained what had happened to his home planet which eventually lead him to the point where he told them about Thanos arriving and taking the Space Stone from them, before he was interrupted by Gamora.

"The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal. To bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre..." Gamora was cut off by Drax.

"Including my own." He cut in, "And a friend of ours. While it wasn't his home planet, it was a place where he had finally felt accepted for what he was."

"If he gets all of the Infinity Stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers, just like that." Gamora continued, as if Drax didn't say anything, as she snapped her fingers to clarify her point

"You seem to know a great deal about Thanos." Thor remarked.

"Gamora, is the daughter of Thanos." Drax explained.

Thor slowly looked up at Gamora, as he glared at her. He stood up and slowly made his way to Gamora, "Your father killed my brother."

"Oh, boy." Quill said quietly as he stepped forward, trying to defuse the situation, "Stepfather, actually. And she hates him as much as you do.''

Thor seemed to soften up a bit as he clapped Gamora on her shoulders, "Families can be tough. Before my father died, he told me I had a half-sister." He was now talking with Gamora as if they had been friends for a long time, as if he didn't want to do something for her because of her father did to Loki, Heimdall and all those other people in the Asgardian Refugee Ship, "That he imprisoned in Hell. Then she returned home and stabbed me in the eye.''

"And I feel your pain as well." Quill stated, trying to look more manly in front of his crew, after the comments they made after seeing Thor for the first time, "I mean, it's not a competition, but I've been through a lot." When he was continuing, Gamora just walked away from him, Rocket rolled his eyes, and Thor just ate his soup, "My father killed my mother and then I had to kill my father, that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out of it with both of my eyes...''

Thor shook his head, eyeing the spoon, as he cut in, not paying attention to everything Quill just said, "I need a hammer not a spoon." He began fiddling with the machinery attached to one of the escape pods, "How do I open this thing? Is there some sort of a four-digit code maybe... maybe a birth date or something..."

"What are you doing?" Quill asked, concerned that he was fiddling with _his _ship.

"Taking your pod." Thor responded.

Quill cleared his throat, "No, you're not!" He said, doing his best to mimic Thor's accent, "You'll not, be taking our pod today, sir."

Rocket looked up at Quill, wanting to be sure if Quill was doing what he thought was he was doing, "Quill. Are you making your voice deeper?"

Quill shook his head and quickly denied it, "No."

"You are. You're imitating the god-man. It's weird." Drax stated.

"No I'm not." Quill denied it again.

Mantis gasped as she pointed at Quill, "He just did it again!"

"This is my voice!" Quill said, as he continued to make his voice deeper.

Thor finally noticed what was going on and stepped closer to Quill, "Are you mocking me?"

"Are you mocking me?" Quill mocked Thor.

"Stop it. You did it again." Thor growled.

''See, he's trying to copy me.'' Quill pointed out, with a smug look on his face, as he turned to his crew for a second.

"Would you stop doing that?" Thor said, growing annoyed by this Earthling.

"Enough!" Gamora shouted, bringing an end to their argument, clearly annoyed by it.

"He's was doing it first." Thor pointed out.

"We need to stop Thanos. Which means we need to find out where he's going next.'' Gamora stated.

"Knowhere." Thor said, walking past Gamora.

"He must be going somewhere." Mantis said.

"No. Knowhere?" Peter looked at the group. "It's a place. We've been there. It sucks."

Thor began raiding the fridge, just grabbing at packets of food with no discretion, as if he wasn't now talking with the owners of it.

''Excuse me, that's our food." Quill reminded him.

"Not anymore." Thor said back.

"Thor... why would he go to Knowhere?" Gamora wanted to know.

"Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored, there with a man we call the Collector." Thor explained, looking over at her.

"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a stone." Quill said, as he put his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

"Or a genius." Thor stated.

"How do you know he's not going for one of the other Stones?" Gamora asked, as Thor stopped rummaging through their fridge, and stepped in front of her.

''There's six stones out there. Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar." Thor began as Quill's eyes widened at the news that Xandar was decimated by Thanos, his crew seemed to be shocked as much as he was by this news, "He stole the Space Stone from me when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones are safe on Earth. They're with the Avengers.''

"The Avengers?" Quill raised his eyebrow at this name.

"They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Thor explained.

"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis asked, titling her head.

Thor stared at Mantis, "He may be on the team. I don't know. Haven't been there in a while. As for the Soul Stone, well, no one's ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can't get it. Therefore, he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome."

"Then we have to go to Knowhere now." Gamora stated.

"Wrong!" Thor interjected, "Where we have to go, is Nivadellir."

''That's a made up word." Drax stated.

"All words are made up." Thor pointed out,

"Hold up, Nidavellir is real?" Rocket said as he hopped onto the table, with excitement evident in his eyes, "Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there."

Thor nodded his head, with a small smile, "The rabbit is correct, and clearly the smartest among you."

"Rabbit?" Rocket raised a brow. No one ever called him a rabbit before.

''Only Eitri the dwarf king can make me the weapon I need." Thor said, turning to Rocket, "I assume you're the captain, sir?''

''You're very perceptive." Rocket nodded, crossing his arms.

''You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?" Thor asked him.

"Lemme just ask the captain." Rocket said, tapping his chin for a second, "Oh, wait a second, it's me! Yeah, I'll go."

''Wonderful." Thor smiled at it.

"Except for that I'm the captain." Quill said, stepping forward, protesting Rocket's takeovering his role as a captain.

"Quiet!" Rocket shushed Quill.

"And that's my backpack..." Quill said, pointing at the slung over Thor's shoulder, ".. Look, this is my ship. And I'm not goin' to..." He stopped himself in the middle of the sentence, not having idea how to pronounce Nidavellir, "... Wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?"

"The Thanos killing kind." Thor's answer was short and quick.

"Don't you think that we should all have a weapon like that?" Quill pointed out.

"No." Thor shook his head as he began explaining, "You simply lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies will crumble as your minds collapse into the madness."

''Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?" Rocket asked, grinning as he opened the hatch door.

''A little, yeah." Thor nodded his head to that.

''If we don't go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he'll be too powerful to stop." Gamora stated.

''He already is." Thor pointed out.

"I got it figured out. We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. So me and Groot will go with the pirate-angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos." Rocket explained, "Cool? Cool."

''So cool." Thor grinned widely.

''For the record... I know that you're only going with him because it's where Thanos isn't." Quill said to Rocket.

''You know, you shouldn't talk that way to your _captain_, Quill." Rocket said as he was about to enter the pod, but then Gamora mentioned someone.

"Before you leave, you should give us the cordinates of this place." She told Thor.

"Why?" Thor asked.

"We have a friend who told us that if time will come for Thanos, we should give him a call. He'll be more than happy to join us because Thanos cleansed a planet he used to live on. He lost the people that accepted him as one of their own on that day." Gamora explained.

Thor nodded his head in understanding, "What's his name?"

"Azurite." Gamora answered.

"Azurite? Is she a gem?" Thor asked. He knew about the gem kind just as much as better part of the universe did, but he didn't know that Thanos invaded one of their colonies.

"_He." _Gamora corrected him, "And, yes he is a gem."

"A male gem? Aren't they all female?" Thor stated.

"It's a long story." Gamora answered.

"If you want a short version, they weren't a big fan of him and banished him, and when he found himself on one planet he finally felt accepted for what he is, but then Thanos cleansed it, and now he wants this guy dead as much as you do." Rocket explained.

Thor nodded his head in understanding, "Give me a piece of paper and a pen and I'll write it down."

Gamora nodded before they got him a piece of paper where he wrote down the cordinates to Nidavellir on it, before handing it to Gamora, "You'll talk with him and then he'll decide if he wants to join me, rabbit and a tree or all four of you."

"I will." Gamora nodded her head.

With one final nod, Thor and Rocket made their way inside the pod, with Groot slowly walking after them, with his attention still at the game."

''Come on, Groot. Put that game down, you'll rot your brain." Rocket said to Groot, who eventually made his way into the pod, and took his seat.

''I bid you farewell and good luck, morons." Thor said, as the other buckled in.

Quill, Gamora and Drax just nodded their heads at him, as Mantis gave him and her two fellow Guardians a small wave.

A moment after, the hatch closed, and before they knew it, the pod dropped out.

"So, we should probably set a course to Knowhere." Quill stated.

"Go, I'll join you in a moment. I'll go talk with Azurite." Gamora said, showing them off the piece of paper with Nidavellir cordinates written on it.

Quill, Drax and Mantis all nodded their heads as they went in separate directions.

* * *

Location: Little Homeworld

Azurite and Spinel were currently fused into Lolite as they stood on a crate. The fusion of the two was posing to the gems that were attending another one on the art classes as the gems who were normally attending those classes were drawing her. Yellow Pearl was still the main model when it came to this class, but sometimes Lolite was taking her place, because she was able to form various things with her limbs, because of her Spinel side.

Even Yellow Pearl and Pink Pearl who decided to join the todays class were making her own drawing of the fusion, but their drawing skills compared to Blue Pearl's, or anyone else in this class were very low.

Lolite stood on the crate for several minutes, not even moving for a second, before Azurite's device opened on her hand, and Gamora's face appeared on the screen, "Azurite, if you're doing anything important, then I'm sorry to interrupt."

"Excuse me for a moment." Lolite said, before unfusing herself into Azurite and Spinel.

"Gamora. I'll call back in thirty minutes. I'm now busy." Azurite answered, as he sat down on the crate, not knowing what Gamora was going to say to him.

"Azurite. It can't wait. It's time." Gamora told him.

"Time for..." Azurite stopped himself in the middle of the sentence as the horrible realization what Gamora meant by that appeared in his mind, "For _this_?"

"Yes. He's ready." Gamora answered.

Azurite's expression turned into more of a terrified one, as he hopped off the crate, "Spinel. Come with me."

"We'll be back in a second." Spinel informed all of the gem attending art class, before walking after Azurite, and when she finally made her way to him, she grabbed his hand, causing him to look down at her, then she asked with, worried because of his sudden change of behaviour, "What happened, Azzie?"

"You'll find out in a second." Azurite said, with fear evident in his voice as he looked at Gamora, "Tell us everything you know."

Gamora nodded her head, as she began explaining, "Not that long ago, we received a call that a ship was under attack, and we went there to see what was going on, when we arrived we saw dozens of massacred people, but not all of them were dead, one survived. You both have been living on Earth for a few months now, you probably heard about him. His name was Thor Odinson."

"Thor? Isn't he one of the Avengers?" Spinel asked, taking quick glances between Azurite and Gamora.

"Well, he was, if I'm not wrong he wasn't on Earth for a few years now." Azurite said, repeating what he heard from people, and what he read on the internet.

"When we found, and after he awoke, he told us everything that happened..." Gamora took a small pause, "Thanos..."

"Thanos..." Spinel cut in, looking up at Azurite, once she heard this name. Now she understood his sudden change of mood, "Is he... you know doing the thing you told us about so he could?" She snapped her fingers, to clarify what she was saying, "...Half of all life?"

"Yes." Gamora answered for Azurite, confirming Spinel's worries, "As I was saying, Thanos attacked his ship, and murdered half of his people , including his brother, Lokie was his name, if I remember correctly, but it wasn't the reason why he came to them. The reason why he came there was because they had the Space Stone, but it wasn't the first stone he got. When he attacked them, he already had the Power Stone."

"The Power Stone was on Xandar... wait... Xandar is gone?" Azurite asked. Out of all of the planets he visited in his life, Xandar was actually one of his favourite ones.

"Yes. He decimated it one week ago." Gamora answered.

"This is bad... really bad... So, what are you going to do now?" Azurite asked, knowing that the Guardians were doing to do something with this.

"We're going to Knowhere to retrieve the Reality Stone from The Collector. You know where Knowhere is, but I don't think you know where is the place where Thor, along with Rocket and Groot went to is. This place is Nidavellir." Gamora explained.

''Nidavellir?" Azurite said, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard it, "I heard a few people mention it, but all of them them thought it was just an old legend."

"Rocket thought the same, before they left Thor wrote down the cordinates on this piece of paper, so you could know where to head, if you decide to go there." Gamora explained, holding up a piece of paper with cordinates of Nidavellir written on it.

"Hold it for a second, let me take a photo." Azurite said, as Gamora held the cordinates before herself, making sure that Azurite would see all of the numbers on it. Azurite pressed one button on his device, taking one photo, but it wasn't the only photo he took. He took another one, just to make sure that he's going to have this photo on device, "Okay. You can drop it now."

Gamora put the paper down, as Azurite asked her, "Why did this Thor guy, Rocket and Groot go there?"

"They went there to get a weapon." Gamora answered.

"What kind of a weapon?" Azurite asked another question.

"The Thanos killing kind. After that, they're going to go on Earth, to protect the stones that are ont his planet." Gamora responded.

"A weapon able to kill Thanos? We're going to need this one..." Azurite stated.

"Where are you going to go?" Gamora asked him.

"I don't know, yet, but I'll decide about it as fast as I can." Azurite replied.

Gamora nodded her head, "Choose what you think is right.''

"I will." Azurite assured her, nodding his head back, before Gamora disconnected.

As Azurite closed his device, he leaned against the wall of the nearby house, and began to sigh, deeply. This day has finally come. The day when the Mad Titan is finally ready to collect of the Infinity Stones has come, and the worst part about it is that he already had two stones at the moment Gamora informed him about it. He knew that they couldn't do much now, because of him having two stones, but there was a slight hope with this guy from the Avengers heading to Nidavellir along with Rocket and Groot to get a weapon that could kill him.

With one final sigh, he knew that he had to next. He had to find Steven, who was going to tell everyone else about this news. The gems in Little Homeworld eventually found out about Thanos, about a month after the new year when Steven finally decided to tell them about it, after Jasper and Centi brought this topic to him.

"Azzie." Even though Spinel was disturbed by this news as much as he was, she was doing pretty good job at hiding it. She gave him a small smile as she said, "You know that no matter what happens, I'm with you to the end, right?"

"I know that." Azurite returned her smile, which quickly faded as he began to head out, 'We need to find Steven and tell him about that. He is going to tell everyone about it."

"Okay. Let's go." Spinel said as they broke themselves into run.

A moment later, when they passed the art class, they heard Blue Pearl ask them, "Azurite? Spinel? Where are you going?"

"Sorry, Blue-Berry, but this drawing is gonna have to wait. We need to find Steven." Spinel answered, using the nickname she came up with for Blue Pearl a few months ago.

"Before you ask why. Here's the reason. Thanos is finally ready. He already has two Infinity Stones at the moment we speak." Azurite explained.

Fear began to grow on the facial features of Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Pink Pearl, because of the revelation they just got from Azurite, before the said gem and Spinel ran off to find Shi'ra, or Jasper, or Centi, or Orange Pearl, or Steven, or anyone they could tell this news.

Rainbow Jasper and Nephrite looked at each other and nodded their heads, before running after them.

Yellow Pearl, Pink Pearl and Blue Pearl, even though the news they just got from Azurite disturbed them, eventually followed them too.

The pair of gems sprinted through the streets of Little Homeworld, earning some confused looks form the gems who had no idea why Azurite and Spinel were running as if their life mattered by it.

The two gems finally stopped when they saw Shi'ra and Jasper, walking along the sidewalk as they chatted with each other.

"Shi'ra! Jasper!" Azurite called for them as the said gem and Kratai turned their attention to him and Spinel, "Good thing we found you..."

"Are you both alright?" Jasper asked with a raised brow.

"You both look like you just saw a ghost." Shi'ra stated.

"Because we just did..." Spinel answered.

"I just got the message from the Guardians. It's time. He's doing this. Thanos is collecting Infinity Stones." Azurite explained.

Shi'ra and Jasper's confused expression turned from a confused one, into a suprised one, which straightened up a moment later, as Shi'ra asked, "How much did she told you?"

"I'll tell everything in a moment. Now, I want both of you to find Steven and tell him about it." Azurite told them.

"Will do." Shi'ra said, nodding her head in understanding.

"Are you sure about this? Maybe the Guardians are playing a joke on you?" Jasper asked.

"Jasper. Gamora is one of the last people in this universe that would joke about it. Her sister Nebula is on the first place of this ranking." Shi'ra told Jasper.

"Yeah. I just realized how stupid it sounded, sorry." Jasper said, putting her hand over her forehead.

"Spinel! Azurite!" The sound of Rainbow Jasper's voice caused all of them to turn around to her, running up to them along with Nephrite, Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Pink Pearl.

"We heard what you two said to Blue Pearl." Nephrite said.

"Well, it was hard not to. She stood right next to you." Yellow Pearl pointed out with a roll of her eyes.

Ignoring Yellow Pearl's comment, Nephrite continued, "Is there something we can do?''

"You guys go with these three and tell Steven and the rest about." Azurite explained to which Rainbow Jasper and Nephrite nodded their heads.

"And what are you going to do, brother?" Shi'ra asked him.

"I'll go get my things, and your spear from our house. Then, I'll tell you everything Gamora told me. We'll met in the center." Azurite said to Shi'ra who nodded her head before all of them parted ways and went in different directions.

Azurite couldn't actually remember the last time when he ran that fast as he quickly made his way over to his, Spinel's, Jasper's and Shi'ra house, and rushed through the front door of it. He ran over the stairs and the first room he rushed into was Shi'ra because this one was closer to the stairs than his. He noticed her spear on a cupboard and quickly lifted it up, before placing it on his back. He didn't had to worry about her plasma caster because she always carried it with herself, just in case if something happened.

Then, he quickly moved to his room, to see his things laying on the cupboard. He walked over to it. There wasn't his claws that he received from Bismuth on Christmas, because he stored it in his gem for most of the time. His eyes went to his glove which was forming myst around it's user and his enemies, but unfortunely he was unable to use it since he started using claws which were covering most of the glove. It was why he was going to leave them in his house. Then his eyes went to to the hooks he got from Drax on is birthday. He took them off the cupboard and placed them on his back, next to Shi'ra's spear.

The last things on this cupboard were Aleena's old machete and Karolyn's headscarf that he used to cover his gem with. He ran his fingers over both of these things as he said.

"I'll make him pay for what he did to you." He glanced over at his memorial wall with his attention focused on Aleena, Rin and Karolyn, "I'll make him pay for what he did to all of you."

When he had sure that he had everything he needed, he walked out of his house, and made his way outside, shutting the doors behind him.

As he made his way to the center of Little Homeworld, where he told Shi'ra, Spinel, Jasper and the rest to met up with him, he saw them, but there weren't the only ones there. He walked up to them, as Steven turned who was told them about the recent news looked ar him.

"Azurite. They told us everyting." He spoke up, as he, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth surrounded Azurite, Shi'ra, Spinel and Jasper. However, they weren't the only ones. Many gems, were slowly surrouding them too. There was Centi and her crew, Orange Pearl, Rainbow Jasper, Blue Lace Agate, Biggs Jasper, Little Larimar, only a name of few.

"What can we do?"


	18. Planning Next Move

"What can we do?" Those words rang through Azurite's ears. He sighed as he started to think what they could do in this situation. He knew that this day will come. He's been waiting for it for over twenty years. And this day has finally come, and he had no idea what to do.

He sighed as, he looked around himself for a moment and saw that everyone had their eyes on him, "If I'm honest with myself, and all of you. There ain't much we can do now. At the moment we speak now, he already has two stones which already makes him one of the most powerful if not the powerful beings in the universe.''

Steven stared up at Azurite as he put his hand on his arm, "Azurite, you know more about Thanos than any of us. Tell us everything that the Guardians told you, and then we'll figure something out."

Azurite nodded his head as he started telling them everything he knew, "The Guardians said that they're going to split up and head in two directions. Quill, Gamora, Drax and Mantis are going to Knowhere to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector, while Rocket and Groot are going to to different place along with this guy from the Avengers. Thor is his name."

"Thor?" Steven asked, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard it.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod.

"Where did they met him?" Steven raised his brow. How did Azurite's friends come across one of the Earth Mightiest Heroes?

"They saved him. Thanos got the Space Stone from him after he attacked their refugee ship, killing so many of his people in the process, including his brother Loki." Azurite explained.

The last part got quite a reaction from the crowd. Loki Odinson, the man that attacked the Earth all those years ago was dead?

"And he got the Power Stone a week ago, when he decimated Xandar." Azurite added, ignoring the expressions that appeared on their faces.

"Death follows him like a shadow." Shi'ra added, standing by Azurite's side, doing a good job at hiding the shock at the news that Xandar was gone.

"Gamora told me that we have two options. Quill, Gamora, Drax and Mantis went to Knowhere to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector..." Azurite continued to tell them everything Gamora told him about Thanos.

"The Collector? Ain't that the person that made you come here because he wanted you to bring him a Pearl so she could serve him?" Pearl asked him. She wanted to ask about him since Azurite mentioned him a few moments earlier, but then Steven asked Azurite about Thor.

"Yes. That's the same guy." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head.

"And you're telling us that he had one of those stones for this whole time?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes. I have no idea who was that stupid to give it to him." Azurite stated, shaking his head.

"What about Rocket and Groot? You said that they're going to a different place with Thor." Spinel spoke up.

"They went to a planet called Nidavellir." Azurite told Spinel what this place was, not excepting anyone to know about it, but much to his suprise one of them spoke up.

"Wait... Nidavellir? This place is real?" Bismuth spoke up, clearly suprised by the news.

"You've heard about it, Bismuth?" Pearl asked her, turning her attention along with many other gems to her. They never head her mention this place.

"All Bismuths did. This place is a legend among us. It was used to make the most powerful weapons in the universe." Bismuth explained what Nidavellir was to them.

"So, I guess you may know why they're going there." Azurite said.

"To create a weapon that will be able to kill Thanos?" Bismuth answered.

"Yes. This weapon may be the only thing to kill him at this point, without having to remove the stones from him." Azurite stated, with his eyes on Bismuth, "It is decided then. You're going to be one of those that will go to Nidavellir to met up with Rocket, Groot and Thor. I'll go there as well." He said, finally deciding where is he going to go. Someone who knew Rocket and Groot had to go there, and if Gamora told him is true, and where the stones are on Earth, he may take him straight to them.

"Then I'm coming with you." Spinel said, not really suprising anyone that she was going with him.

"Make it four. You're my brother, and siblings should stick together." Shi'ra spoke up.

"Steven should go with us too." Spinel said, turning towards Steven, "You have your healing spit. If this Thor guy has any injures, you could heal him."

"Good point, Spinel. I'll go with you." Steven agreed with her.

"That makes us five. I think it's enough." Shi'ra stated.

"You're right. It leaves us Knowhere. Most of the Guardians are going there. Someone who knows has to go there." Azurite said, glancing over at Jasper, "Jasper. You don't know them as much as I and Shi'ra do, but you talked with them on numerous occasions.''

"Say no more. I'll go there." Jasper said, immediately agreeing to go to Knowhere.

"Going there alone will be too dangerous. Lapis and Peridot will come with you." Steven said, looking over at Peridot and Lapis. Peridot immediately nodded her to that, while it took the latter one a few seconds to nod her head. She wasn't a fan of the idea of going along with Jasper, but she knew that there was no time to complain about that.

"Take my ship." Shi'ra said to them, "With the upgrade I installed along with Azurite when I came here for the first time, it shouldn't take you so long to get there."

"I'll make sure that your ship comes back in all pieces." Jasper assured her.

"Don't promise. I said that I'm going to be okay with my ship getting destroyed on certain occasions. This is one of them." Shi'ra said back.

"All three of you. You better be prepared for Knowhere." Azurite said as the three gems who were going to go to this planet looked at him, "If any of you ever thought that Earth was disgusting, then Knowhere is going bring you a new meaning to this word."

"What about us?" Amethyst asked, gesturing towards herself, Garnet and Pearl. They haven't been mentioned in their plan, yet.

"Some gems have to stay here and help the others prepare for the fight. If Thor wants to create a weapon able to kill Thanos, then he may take us straight to one of the stones, or even to Thanos and his army. We need everyone prepared for the fight.'' Azurite answered.

"Good point." Garnet agreed with him. Thanos may sent his army to retrieve one of the Infinity Stones, and they needed to be ready to fight with them in case if he did sent his army.

"Speaking of the Infinity Stones. You said that he has two, and one of them is on Knowhere. Where are the other three? I assume that he knows about the location of at least of one of them is there is a chance that he may take you to one of them." Pearl wanted to know.

"Gamora told me that he said that there are two stones on this planet, that's why I'm certain that he is going to take us straight to at least one of them. As for the third one, I don't know." Azurite answered, shaking his head as he said the part about the last Infinity Stone.

"If there are two stones on this planet, then he may sent the Black Order to get them." Shi'ra spoke up.

"You're right. There is a possibility of it." Azurite agreed with her. The Black Order were the people that he was worrying about the most from Thanos' army. He knew that all of them were going to be pretty hard to defeat if they will come across him. However there was one thing he was sure about it. If he was going to come across Proxima Midnight, he was going to kill her. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but he felt like he had to do it. For Aleena, and for himself.

"But if Thor is really going to end up taking you to one of the Infinity Stones. How are we going to know your location, then?" one of the gems from the crowd spoke up with a lot of gem agreeing with her. It was Crazy Lace Agate.

Azurite and Shi'ra shared a look together, before Shi'ra took her device off her hand and handed it to Garnet, "We're going to sent you the cordinates in a massage."

Garnet nodded her head as she took the device and placed it on her arm. Shi'ra showed her and other curious gems about how it worked, so she knew in some way how this device worked, "I'll wait for it.''

"So we have us to Nidavellir." Spinel said, gesturing to the everyone who was assigned to go to Nidavellir, "Them to Knowhere." She gestured to Jasper, Lapis and Peridot, "And we know what the rest is going to do here. It just leaves..."

"The Diamonds." Azurite finished. The Diamonds knew about Thanos probably much longer than he did, and they must've know that the day like this was going to come sooner or later, but the question was. Were they going to join the fight?

"Do you think they're going to join?" Steven raised her brow at the three Pearls from Homeworld, as he turned his attention them.

The three Pearls shared a look with each other, before Blue Pearl answered, saying the answer that was one the mind of three Pearls, "We don't know, but we can try."

"They're going to join us. I'm sure about it." Garnet stated, with a quick nod of her head.

"I guess, there's one way to find out." Amethyst stated with a shrug of her shoulders.

"We'll check in a a moment. But at first, we should get these three to Knowhere." Shi'ra said, gesturing towards Jasper, Lapis and Peridot.

Everyone that was gathered in Little Homeworld's center agreed with the Kratai. She along with Azurite, Steven, Spinel, Jasper, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, Orange Pearl and Centi made her way to the place where Azurite's and her ships were placed since their arrival on this planet. They barely had used it since then, but they always stood there in ready, in case if something happened. The group split up in two smaller groups. The first one was saying their goodbyes to Lapis and Peridot, while the other one was saying their goodbyes to Jasper.

"You won't have a problem with getting to Knowhere. I've been visiting this planet from time to time. It'll be one the first planets I have marked on my computer." Shi'ra assured her roommate.

"I'll remember about it." Jasper said with a nod of understanding.

"Jasper. There's one more thing I want you to do once you'll reach Knowhere." Azurite said.

"What is this?" Jasper raised her brow.

"When you're going to see The Collector, punch him in the face from me." Azurite explained.

Jasper chuckled as she nodded her head, "I will.''

"And one more thing. Do what you must to get that Infinity Stone." Shi'ra added.

"I will." Jasper nodded her head in understanding. She knew how serious this situation was and how situation would get from bad to worse if Thanos got another Infinity Stone.

"Jasper. We mean it." Spinel was the last one to add something.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best to get this stone. You know me." Jasper assured them.

"Jasper!" Peridot's voice came from behind, and all six of them saw the small green flying into Shi'ra ship on her disc, with Lapis walking before her.

"I should get going." Jasper said as she began to head into Shi'ra ship, and when she on the hatch, she heard one of them call her name.

"Jasper!" Orange Pearl was the one who called over to her. Jasper turned to her, Azurite, Spinel, Shi'ra and Centi, and heard her add, "Good luck."

Jasper nodded her head as she shared one last look with them, before she walked into the ship. The hatch started to raise up, until it completely closed the entrance to Shi'ra ship. Not long after that, the ship began to raise up as well, and a minute or two later, Shi'ra and the rest watched her ship disappeared in a fraction of a second from their view.

As the three gems headed off to their mission, the group began to walk back to the center of Little Homeworld, where they were going to warp themselves to Homeworld.

"So, you're going to go to Homeworld, now?" Orange Pearl asked her friends, as they walked along the sidewalk. She wanted to have one last conversation with Azurite, Spinel and Shi'ra before they leave to Nidavellir.

"Yes. If there's a chance that more gem will join us, then it's worth a try." Azurite answered.

"Do you want us two to go with you to Homeworld?" Orange Pearl asked another question.

"No. You two should stay here and help the others prepare." Azurite replied.

"Then, I'll hope we'll see each other as soon as possible." Centi said.

"We're going to see each other soon, Centi. You don't have to worry about it." Spinel gave her an assuring smile, extending her hand up to give the former corrupted gem a pat on the shoulder.

Centi returned the smile, "I'm sorry that I'm worried about my friends, then."

"As said, you don't have to worry about us. We all are going to make it out of it alive. I'm certain about it." Spinel said, extending her arms more until they were wrapped around Azurite, Shi'ra, Centi and Orange Pearl. I

"If you say so, Spinel. I'm going to stay here and prepare myself and my crew." Centi said.

"When you're saying that, then I'm sure that they will be prepared for what is going to happen." Shi'ra stated.

"Oh, believe me, friend, they're going to prepared like they never were before. I'll make sure about it." Centi assured her.

"What about you Orange? We're going to see if my lessons paid off after all these months." Azurite said, glancing at the said Pearl.

"I certainly hope so. I've been getting better with my training during all those months we trained together." Orange Pearl said.

"You will do well, Orange. I'm sure about it." Azurite assured her, with a smile. While Orange Pearl wasn't the best at it in their first training sessions, she got a lot of better as the time passed. There were still things that she had to learn, but she was ready for something like this.

It was the last thing they said to each other as the group finally made their way to the warp. Steven and his friends were the first to get themselves there, which was followed by Yellow Pearl, Pink Pearl and Blue Pearl who were waiting for them to come back by the warp the entire time. Shi'ra and Azurite joined them at the warp the moment after, and looked at Spinel, who was about to join them, but before that she gave Orange Pearl and Centi both a bone crushing hug, before joining the rest on the warp.

They thought they were going to warp themselves to Homeworld a second after Spinel walked in, but before that happened, they heard Garnet speak up to the crowd of gems around them, "If you're planning to join the fight, then you should start preparing. This may be the fight of our lives. _A fight that we have to win_, otherwise, the universe is not going to be same."

Those were the last words the gems in Little Homeworld heard before the warp shined and everyone that stood on it disappeared.

* * *

Azurite, Spinel, Shi'ra, Steven, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth, Blue Pearl, Pink Pearl and Yellow Pearl warped themselves straight to the throne room of the Diamonds. They all looked up at the thrones of the three Diamonds to see all three of them growing happy to see certain hybrid and gem paying them a visit, unaware of the true reason behind their visit, yet.

"Steven! Spinel! How good it is to see you again!" Blue Diamond was the first one to greet them, before noticing that they didn't came here alone.

"It's nice to see you too, Steven's gem friends!" White Diamond said after her.

Yellow Diamond was the last to say something out of these three, "And Azurite and his Kratai friend... we weren't excepting to see you two with them."

"_I have a name, you know..._" Shi'ra thought to herself, rolling her eyes. She, just like Azurite wasn't fond of these three, but she had one good memory about them. That memory was when they paid Steven a visit on the Earth, and they found out that Spinel was seeing the gem they banished a long time ago for being different. Their reaction made her day.

"Believe me, If there wasn't a good reason to come here, I wouldn't." Azurite said with Shi'ra nodding her head in agreement. Azurite still wasn't a fan of the Diamonds and he doubted that he'll ever warm up to them.

"What do you mean by that?" Yellow Diamond raised her brow. Assuming that something must've happen from the tone of his voice.

"Something has happened, Steven?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Azurite here, got a message from his Gamora of the Guardians of the Galaxy. She told him that Thanos is collecting the Infinity Stones." Steven asked, as he turned to Azurite, "He'll tell you everything we know."

Azurite sighed as he looked up at the Diamonds, who's welcoming expressions quickly faded at the news about Thanos, "As Steven here said, Thanos is finally ready to collect the Infinity Stones to do what he was planning to do for as long as I knew about his existance. He already has two of them. He got the Power Stone after decimating Xandar, and the Space Stone after attacking the Asgardians. We came here, because we want to try to stop him, and we need your help."

"What do you want us to do?" White Diamond asked him.

"We want you make a broadcast across all of the colonies. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst are gathering our forces against Thanos in Little Homeworld, and we want as many gems as it is possible to join." Spinel explained.

"What about you, Steven?" Yellow Diamond wanted to know.

"I'm, along with Bismuth, Spinel, Azurite and Shi'ra, going to met up with Thor Odinson, who you remember as one the Avengers I showed you back on Earth on the internet, and Groot and Rocket, two of the Guardians of the Galaxy. There is a chance that he may take us to one of the Infinity Stones. We already sent Jasper, Peridot and Lapis where they along with other Guardians of the Galaxy are going to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector." Steven answered.

"So, our questions is. Are you going to help us?" Spinel asked, looking up at them with a very hopeful look. Back when she used to live on Homeworld, right after the attack, she just had to use these eyes if she wanted something from them. She hoped it would work this time as well.

The Diamonds stared at the group before them for a moment. They've known about Thanos existance and his goal for a very long time now. They knew that this day may finally come, and even thought it seemed pretty much pointless to them to join the fight, because of Thanos already having two Infinity Stones which made him practically unstoppable at this moment, but this is what Pink would want from them. If she was there with them, she'd join the fight against the Mad Titan without any second thoughts.

"...We will help you." White Diamond answered.

Steven smiled at three as he could feel relief across his body, "Thank you."

"It's what Pink would want us to do." Yellow Diamond stated, as she looked down at her pearl, and other two pearls, "Pearl, get everything ready."

"Yes, my Diamond." Yellow Pearl said.

Several minutes had to pass, but eventually, everyone got everything ready for the broadcast. It has started with White Diamond, Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond sitting on their thrones, as the camera focused itself on the first one from the three.

"...Greetings our loyal subjects! I know this is far earlier than most of our weekly adresses, so far, but Steven and one gem have something important to share with all of you!" She explained.

Then the camera lowered itself down at Steven and Azurite, who were standing side by side.

"Are we broadcasting across all of the colonies?" Steven asked, glancing up at the Diamonds who nodded their heads at him.

Steven nodded his head to that, before glancing over to Azurite who stood at his side. They shared a quick look together, before Azurite began to inform all of the gems that they needed their help. He had been replaying what was he going to say in his head since they started preparing for this transmission, so he didn't had much trouble in coming up what to say.

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that is there are some dark days ahead of us! You see, my fellow gems, his name is Thanos! The power he wields is that of the very universe itself! At this moment, he has two Infinity Stones, and if he acquires more of them... he can be that much closer to achieve his destiny of wiping out half of all living creatures in the entire universe! Half of everything we know... we love... everything and _everyone_! We need your help to stop him!" He declared.

Steven took his place, arms behind his back as he added, "Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl are gathering our forces on the Earth in Little Homeworld! If you will decide to help us, go there! In the meantime I and Azurite here and along with few other gems to a place where Thor Odinson, one of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes along with Rocket and Groot, two members of the Guardians of the Galaxy headed. We're going to met up with them which may take us straight to one of the Infinity Stones, which also may lead us straight to Thanos' army, or maybe even Thanos himself... I hope as many of you will join, please, we need your help more than ever."

With that, a rather quick transmission was over, and every camera was turned off by Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Pink Pearl.

"I think that went well." Steven stated, after making sure that they were not broadcasted anymore.

"I certainly hope so, kid." Azurite said back, "How many of them are going to join?"

"Let's hope that as many as possible." Steven told him.

Azurite nodded his head as he looked up the Diamonds, "With the brodcast thing done, now. There's one more thing we want to ask you."

"What is it?" Blue Diamond asked them.

"We're going to need the fastest ship Homeworld has." Azurite replied.

"For what?" Yellow Diamond wanted to know.

"Because as Steven said, we're going to met up with Thor, Rocket and Groot which may take us to one of the Infinity Stones but he didn't say on which planet it is going to be. It is going to be on Nidavellir, where we're going to get a weapon." Spinel explained, she and Shi'ra were now standing by Azurite's side, with her grabbing his hand.

"What kind of a weapon?" White Diamond wanted to know.

"The Thanos killing kind. A weapon that will be able to kill him even with the Infinity Stones." Shi'ra answered.

They didn't had to say more. The Diamonds immediately told Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Pink Pearl to escort them to the fastest ship Homeworld had in it's stock. But before they took them to it, they said their goodbyes and good lucks to Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl as the first the gems who decided to join them in their fight againt The Mad Titan walked through the entrance to the throne room of the Diamonds.

When the finally made their way to the ship, they got themselves into it and boarded from Homeworld and headed towards Nidavellir.

They had to hurry.


	19. Knowhere and Nidavellir

It was hard for Gamora to tell how much has passed since Rocket and Groot left to Nidavellir along with Thor to get a weapon able to kill her father, but it wasn't the subjects of her thoughts, at least at this moment. The subject of her thoughts was a small red-jeweled dagger, which was given to her a long time ago, back when she was still a girl by Thanos on the day when he cleansed her planet.

''Gamora." Quill's voice suddenly took her away from her thoughts, "Do you know if these grenades are the "blow off your junk" kind or the gas kind? 'Cause I was thinking I might hang a couple on my belt right here. But I don't want to..."

''I need to ask a favor." She cut in, as they were now standing in the halfway of the cockpit of the ship.

Quill stopped and swallowed, "Yeah, sure."

''One way or another, the path that we're on leads to Thanos." Gamora said, giving him a look.

''Which is what the grenades are for." Quill said, trying to lit up the situation, but Gamora silenced him with a look, "I'm sorry. What's the favor?''

"If things go wrong… " Gamora paused for a moment, bracing herself to say this, "If Thanos gets me… I want you to promise me… you'll kill me."

Quill froze in confusion at the request, "...What?"

''I know something he doesn't. If he finds out… the entire Universe could be at risk." Gamora sighed.

''What do you know?" Quill raised his brow, giving her a concerned look.

''If I tell you, you'd know, too.'' Gamora pointed out.

''If it's so important, shouldn't I?" Quill stated.

''Only if you wanna die." Gamora explained, shaking her head.

Quill threw his hands in the air at this revelation, "Why does somebody always have to die in this scenario?''

Gamora rolled his eyes at what he just did, "Just… trust me. And possibly, kill me.''

''I mean, I'd like to. I really would…" Quill said, struggling to pick the right words for it, before Gamora silenced by covering his mouth with her hand.

''Swear to me. Swear to me on your mother.'' She said to him.

Quill stared in her terrified eyes. After a second, he responded with, "Okay..."

The two lean forward and press their lips against each other. They shared a kiss with each other, until an odd crunching sound startled them. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Drax, standing in the corner.

Quill's eyes widened, as he asked him, "Dude. How long have you been standing there?"

"An hour." Drax responded.

''An hour?" Quill asked, not even trying to hide his suprise.

''Are you serious?" Gamora asked, wanting to know if Drax was serious or not.

Drax nodded his head, "I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still... that I become invisible to the eye... watch.''

Quill and Gamora watched how Drax just stood motionless, until pulling his hand out of the bag of zarg-nuts. He slowly began to raise it up, as Gamora and Quill stared at him in confusion.

''You're eating a zarg-nut." Quill pointed out, confused.

"But my movement... was so slow... that it's imperceptible." Drax continued.

"No." Quill said as he and Gamora shook their heads.

''I'm sure I'm invisible." Drax said, going along with this thing, depised being told that it doesn't work.

Mantis suddenly walked in from behind Quill and Gamora and said, "Hi Drax."

"...Damn it." Drax said, giving out a dejected sigh.

* * *

Things have been really awkward for three gems that were sent to help Quill, Drax, Gamora and Mantis retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector, especially for Jasper. In all the time she spent in Little Homeworld, she eventually managed to make amends with Peridot. They wouldn't call themselves best friends, but they were on the good terms with each other.

As for things between her and Lapis, well, they were still tense, and it was just a gentle way to put it.

"So..." Peridot spoke up, trying to start a conversation, "Jasper, if what Shi'ra's computer tells us is true, then we're going to arrive at this planet if a few minutes. Can you tell us how they look like, it would be easier for us to spot them."

Jasper nodded her head, Peridot and Lapis heard about the Guardians, but these two never really had a chance to see how they look, "Quill is probably going to be the easiest one to spot.

Drax is the one who walks shirtless for most of the time and has most of his body covered with red tattoos, and Mantis has strange antennas coming out of her head."

"Antennas?" Peridot raised her brow, raising her arms to imitate, "Like this?"

"Yes." Jasper confirmed with a nod.

"For what purpose?" Peridot asked another question.

"She doesn't know herself. When I asked her that, she said that she think it's for her abilities." Jasper explained.

"Abilities? What are those?" Peridot asked, curious about Mantis' abilities.

"If she can touch someone she can feel what that person feels." Jasper replied.

Peridot chuckled, "Then it must've resulted in some awkward situation, right Lapis." She said as she nudged Lapis, who said nothing, "Lapis?"

"You again with this silent treatment?" Jasper asked her as Lapis rolled her eyes in response. Jasper let out a groan at the response of the blue gem, "I'm trying to be someone better, but not matter how much I try to atone everything I did to you, but you ignore me or fly away!"

"Maybe it's because I want you to leave me alone?" Lapis pointed out. She knew that Jasper was now a different gem than she was when they fused into Malachite, but no matter how much time has passed since then, she still couldn't bring herself to forgive her, and was doing her best to stay away from her.

"Don't start, both of you." Peridot shushed them both, "If Thanos is as bad as Azurite describes him to be, or even worse, then arguing is the last thing we should do."

Lapis sighed, as she turned her attention to Peridot for a second, "You're right." She turned to Jasper, "I'm not going to ignore you, but don't except me to show that I like you."

"That's what I'm asking for." Jasper pointed out. As long she doesn't ignore her, she was okay with it. If they wanted to get the Reality Stone, they needed to work together.

"_You've reached your destination._" Shi'ra's computer spoke up, as all three gems quickly hurried over to the cockpit and all of them saw a disembodied head which was the planet they were heading to.

"Whoa..." Peridot whispered in awe. She hasn't seen anything like this before. The others were in similiar awe at how this head looked like, but it was quickly turned into disgust after the ship flew into a giant eye which happened to be the entrance.

When Shi'ra ship landed on this planet, they all stepped out of it and eyed their surroudings.

"Azurite was right. This planet is disgusting." Peridot stated, eyeing the surroudings.

The other two couldn't help but agree with her.

"It's quiet here." Lapis stated.

"Too quiet." Jasper added. If what Azurite and Shi'ra told her was true then Knowhere should be filled with people, but now, it looked like a ghost town.

"There's a ship heading our way." Lapis suddenly exclaimed,

Jasper and Peridot turned in the direction Lapis was pointing at and saw a ship heading their way, after spotting it, Peridot asked, "Is that them?"

"I don't know I've never seen their ship, so be prepared in case if it's someone else." Jasper answered, as she, Peridot and Lapis readied themselves, just in case if it turns out to be someone else.

Thankfully, after the ship landed and the entrance lowered itself down, the three gems saw, Quill who was walking out of his ship, followed by Drax, Gamora and Mantis.

"That's them." Jasper said to Lapis and Peridot as they walked over to Quill's crew, "Quill!"

Quill turned his head to the source of the voice and saw Jasper, Lapis and Peridot heading his and his crew way, "...Jasper? What are you doing here?"

This was actually the first time Jasper and Quill's crew saw each other in person. In all the times they saw each other, it was through Shi'ra's and Azurite's device. She along with two other gems approached them, as she explained, "Azurite and Shi'ra decided to go to Nidavellir, I was sent here along with these two to help you with the Reality Stone."

Quill nodded his head in understanding, as he eyed Jasper for a momen, "You're even taller in person."

"Thanks... I guess." Jasper didn't know how to reply for that.

"Who are these two?" Quill then asked, gestured towards Lapis and Peridot who stood behind Jasper.

"The blue one is Lapis Lazuli, then one on the disc is Peridot." Jasper said, glancing over her shoulder to Lapis and Peridot, who gave nods to Gamora in response.

"It's nice to meet you all. My name is..." Gamora was cut off by Peridot.

"There's no need for that. Jasper here already told us about you." Peridot said as she pointed at Quill, "He's Quill." Then at Gamora, "You're Gamora." At Drax, "Drax." And finally at Mantis, "And the last one is Mantis."

"Oh my gosh... The little gem is so cute..." Mantis said, with her eyes on Peridot, right after the green gem pointed at her.

"Mantis not now." Quill whispered to Mantis, nudging her, before turning to the three gems that arrived here to help them, "Excuse her, she's just being herself."

Peridot huffed as she crossed her arms, "I'm not cute."

"We should go for the stone, Drax and Quill said that there's a movement in the Collector lair." Gamora stated.

Gamora didn't had to say more. The now mixed group of the Guardians of the Galaxy and the gems made reached the Collector's domain, after a few minutes of walking. It was huge, and full of many items— but, at large, the place was completely wrecked. No wonder he wanted Azurite to bring him a Pearl so she could serve him...

''I don't have it." The person who the gems assumed belonged to the Collector sounded across the room. Who else would be talking about not having the Reality Stone, now?

''Everyone in the Galaxy knows you'd sell your own brother if you thought it would add the slightest trinket to your pathetic collection." Another voice that was unknown for the three gems stated.

Jasper, Lapis and Peridot all turned to Gamora, already assuming who that might be, but wanted to be sure.

"That's him." She whispered to the three gems, who nodded their heads, understanding that the Mad Titan was just metres away from them.

Quill stopped, and held his fist up, telling all of them to stop, but everybody ignored it and quietly walked past him, causing him to roll his eyes and let out a quiet groan.

''I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan. Giving it to me will spare you a great deal of suffering." Thanos spoke up again, as he put his boot in the middle of the Collector's chest and pressed it. The Collector whined in pain, gasping for a breath.

"...I told you." He sobbed, with his arms out on his heart, pleading Thanos to spare his life, "I sold it! Why would I lie?..."

''I imagine it's like breathing for you." Thanos pointed out.

"Like suicide." The Collector said back.

''So you do understand." Thanos stated, with a small smile on his face, which faded a second afet, when he added, "Not even you would surrender something so precious.''

The Collector shook his head, trying to think of a good lie, "I didn't know what it was.''

''Then you're more of a fool than I took you for." Thanos stated, putting more pressure on the man's chest. "Where's the stone? Last chance, charlatan. Where's the Stone?"

"Today." Drax whispered, but if everyone were honest with themselves, it was more of a hiss than a whisper, "He pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter.''

Quill noticed it and immediately went over to Drax to calm him down, "Drax! Drax!''

However, Drax continued, not paying attention to Quill, "...He pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter."

''Drax, waaaaait!" Quill said to Drax as the latter one drew his dagger from his leg scabbard.

"Calm down for a second!" Jasper also tried to calm Drax down. She knew from Azurite why Drax wanted Thanos dead, and she knew that it may take a moment to calm the tattooed man down.

Drax gave both of them a look before turning to Thanos, as Lapis quickly formed two water chains with her powers, to hold him onto the floor, as Quill got himself in front of Drax, "Drax, Drax, Drax. He doesn't have the Stone yet. We get it, and then we can stop him. We have to get the Stone first.''

''No. No. For Ovette. For Kamaria.'' Drax shook his head, already having made his mind, as he struggled to free himself from the water chains.

With this happenning, Mantis quickly put her hand on Drax's head, "Sleep."

Drax got still, with eyes closed. He was sleeping, as Peridot stated, "One problem less."

But then, Drax collapsed on the ground, making a loud noise, alerting Thanos that someone was here, Quill shook his head as all of them ducked down to the floor, "You just had to jinx us?"

Thanos looked towards the sound. He picked up the Collector by his clothes and threw him inside of the collecting case before walking towards the place from which the sound came from, to see who was here.

'Okay. Gamora, Mantis, Peridot, you go right. I'm..." Quill tried to say, but Gamora was already moving towards Thanos, not paying attention to his orders. He sighed, "The other right!"

Gamora leaped on Thanos from a stack of boxes, swinging her sword at him. Thanos caught one of her swings, and held it, putting the pressure on it, until it snapped in half, but before any of them could react she had plunged the other half on this sword into his his throat. As she stabbed him in the throat with the stub, his lower jaw was sagging and he let out a hoarse groan. She quickly drew another blade, which this time happened to be a red-jeweled dagger, and inserted it in his heart.

He grabbed the dagger with his hand, and tried to pull it out, but eventually stopped and said, "...Why?" He fell to his knees with a loud clatter, his armor making quick contact with the ground. He tried to raise up, but he couldn't, instead he fell on his back, "Why you... _daughter_?"

He held his hand out to her as Gamora broke into tears, sobbing her eyes out as her sight was not leaving his body.

The rest of the group stood up from their hiding positions, as Drax awoke from his slumber, with Quill saying, clearly suprised, "That was quick."

"That was easier than I thought it'll be." Peridot stated, with Lapis nodding her head in agreement.

The Collector was staring at Gamora in awe from his glass cage. He started rather violently clapping and shouting to her, "Magnificent! Magnificent! Magnificent!..."

''Is it sadness I sense in you, daughter?" The voice which belonged to Thanos spoke up, Gamora stared up from the ground at Thanos' body in shock, "In my heart, I knew you still cared."

Everyone stared in shock how Thanos' lifeless body turned red ashes, but it was only the beginning. They all watched how the scenery around them changed in just split of a second, and saw how the room which was pretty much undamaged just a second ago was now burning with fired and destroyed items were all around it. Even the Collector himself, was waving goodbye, before disappeared into the ash, leaving the glass empty.

"But one ever knows for sure." He continued, as Gamora was breathing heavily, watching everything around her, "Reality is often disappointing.''

Those same red ashes appeared beside Gamora, but instead of destroying something. It formed something, or someone. It Thanos, the real one this time. He showed her his gauntlet, to reveal the Reality Stone which was already placed on his gauntlet, "That is, it was. Now… reality can be whatever _I_ want.''

''You knew I would come.'' Gamora stated, cursing herself for understimating him.

''I counted on it." Her father looked down at her, "There is something we must discuss, little one.''

Gamora hesitated for a second, but then she quickly reached down for her broken sword. Unfortunely Thanos was faster than her and grabbed her by the back of the neck, and held her in front of him, now.

Drax used this time to charge at Thanos as he screamed his name, "Thanos!"

Jasper summoned her helmet, as she charged at Thanos, knowing that there was no point of staying in the corner anymore, but before she and Drax could reach the Mad Titan, he used the power of the Reality Stone, turning both of them into rubble.

Mantis, Peridot and Lapis stared at what happened to these two in horror, a gasp leaving Mantis' and Peridot's mouth. The thing that shocked Lapis and Peridot the most was the fact that Jasper, instead of poofing was turned into rubble.

It didn't took that long before them and Mantis were turned into a ribbon version of themselves, with Peridot's disc falling on the floor.

Quill got out of his cover, and slowly walked towards them, armed his his blasters, "Let her go, Grimmace.''

Thanos just smirked at it.

"Peter." Gamora said to him.

"I told you to go right." Quill told her, his eyes not leaving Thanos.

"Now?" Gamora was now crying, "Really?"

''You let her go!" Quill exclaimed.

"Ah, the boyfriend." Thanos smiled at him.

''Actually..." Quill said through gritted teeth, "I think of myself as a Titan-killing, long-term bootycall. Let her go''

"Peter..." Gamora continued to call over to him.

"Or I'm gonna blow that nut sack of a chin right off your face!" Quill repeated himself, ignoring her pleas. His full attention was still on the Mad Titan.

''Not him..." Gamora said as Quill hesitated, and didn't shoot anyone, "You promised... You promised..."

Thanos shook his head at the interaction between these two, as he said to Gamora ''Oh, daughter. You expect too much from him." He glanced down at Quill and cocked his head, "She's asked, hasn't she? Do it.''

Quill didn't do anything, staring at Gamora. Thanos grunted as he shoved her closer to him, "Do it!"

"I told you to go right..." Quill said, his chin was quivering at what he was going to do, tearing up, not wanting to do this,

"I love you more than anything." Gamora said, whimpering, holding that weak smile on her face despite everything. To help him. To calm him.

"I love you too." Quill said, just a second before pulling the trigger, but a stream of bubbles came out. His eyes shot open in disablief, now understanding that Thanos was playing him for this whole time.

"I like him." Thanos stated, with admiration in his eyes, before teleporting himself and Gamora away from stunned Peter who watched how his friends, and three gems recover from their fake deaths.

"What just happened?..." Peridot asked after a moment as she got herself back on her feet.

"We lost the stone and Gamora..." Jasper said, her voice was weak as the last pieces of her were coming back to her, "That's what happened..."

* * *

In the escape pod from the Guardians ship, Thor, Rocket and Groot were impatiently waiting to arrive at the Nidavellir. Groot and Rocket were still sitting on their seats, as Thor was standing in the back of the pod.

"I am Groot" Groot stated, not even trying to hide his irritation.

Rocket turned towards him and sighed, "Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig? Everybody's seen a twig."

"I am Groot." Groot protested.

"Tree, pour what's in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again.'' Thor stated, looking out into the space, brooding.

Rocket looked at Thor, suprised, "You speak Groot?"

''Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective.'' Thor answered.

"I am Groot" Groot stated, shortly.

Thor turned to Groot, said with a sigh, "You'll know when we're there. Nivadellir's forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star." He sighed as he sat down on the seat that was in the back of the pod, right next to the windows, "It's the birth place of my hammer. It's truly awesome."

Rocket turned around from the controls to see Thor sitting sadly beside the window, and sighed, "Okay. Time to be the captain." He muttered to himself, as he got himself off his seat and walked over to the console. He pressed two buttons as he started, "So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying.''

''Well, he's been dead before, but this time I think it really might be true.'' Thor stated sadly.

''And you said your sister and your dad?" Rocket prodded.

''Both dead." Thor responded with a shook of his head.

''Still got a mom, though?'' Rocket continued.

"Killed by a dark elf." Thor answered.

"A best friend?" Rocket, running out of the people to ask about.

Thor's mind flew to what recently happened and an image of Thanos stabbing Heimdall appeared in his mind, "Stabbed through the heart."

Rocket sighed at the pain and suffering Thor had gone through, and the worst part about it is that everything seemed to be recent, "Are you sure you're up to this particular murder mission?''

Thor smiled widely, not only trying to convice Rocket, but also himself. It was a very forced smile, "Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret... they're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go.''

''Yeah, but this Thanos we're talking about... he's the toughest there is." Rocket pointed out.

"He's never fought me." Thor replied.

"Yes, he has." Rocket stated.

"He's never fought me, _twice_." Thor corrected himself, "And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."

"Better be some hammer.'' Rocket stated.

''You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so.'' Thor said, gritting his teeth in anger and pain.

"And what if you're wrong?" Rocket wanted to know.

''If I'm wrong then... what more could I lose?" Thor sniffed, as he hastilly wipedhis bellow eye, trembling a bit. He stood up and seated himself beside Groot.

Rocket muttered under his breath, " I could lose a lot. Me personally. I could lose a lot.'' He took the eyeball from the small bag on his suit. He walked over to Thor and held it out to him, "Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack... you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball.''

Thor took the eyeball from Rocket and eyed it questioningly, "What's this?"

''What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on on Contraxia.'' Rocket responded as he got himself back on his seat.

''He gave you his eye?" Thor raised his brow, eyeing the eyeball.

Rocket snorted as he turned around to Thor for a second, "He gave me 100 credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye."

''Thank you, sweet rabbit." Thor thanked him as he proceeded to put the eyeball in his socket.

''Hmm. Huh? Oh. I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my..." Rocket was cut off by someone.

"Rocket? Groot? Hello! Are you there?" A voice which Rocket and Groot immediately recognized came through their ears as the voice sounded all across the pod.

"Who's that?" Thor asked them, smacking his palm against the side of his head to get the eye calibrated

"It's Azurite. The guy Gamora mentioned back in my ship." Rocket answered, moving his hands to the control panel, and after pressing some buttons, Azurite's and Shi'ra faces appeared on the screen.

"Rocket." Azurite greeted him with a nod of his head, before looking over at Groot, "Groot."

"Azurite, Shi'ra. It's good to hear from you." Rocket said.

"I am Groot" Groot added.

"It's good to see you, too, you two. I just wish it was under better circumstances." Shi'ra said with a nod of her head, "We all saw a pod and we decided to check it if it was you."

"So, you two decided to come with us to Nidavellir." Rocket stated.

"Yes, but there's more of us here." Azurite told him, as Spinel appeared on the screen, by his side.

"Hey guys!" She greeted him, giving him and Groot a small wave, before making a room for Bismuth and Steven.

"And these two are Bismuth and S..." Azurite was interrupted by Rocket.

"This kids name is Steven. I know who this he is. You mentioned him a few times when we talked with each other, and we saw his message." Rocket cut in, to which Groot nodded his head in agreement.

"I know who he is as well. I also saw his little broadcast to the universe. I was suprised that someone like him could turn an entire race of conquering gems into something completely opposite. It was quite impressing." Thor praised Steven, "I was hoping we'd met some day, but I just wish it was better circumstances."

Steven just nodded his head to that, but he could feel pride exploding all over his body. One of the Avengers just praised him!

"I'm glad you think like that, Thor." Steven said, with a nod of his head, "Just like you, I wish it was under better circumstances.''

"So, which one of your antiques was used to get you here?" Rocket wanted to know, but also tried to mess with these two.

"My antique stayed in Little Homeworld." Azurite answered, crossing his arms, feeling offended. There was nothing wrong about him having an old ship.

"And for my antique. We sent Jasper and two other gems in it to Knowhere." Shi'ra explained, crossing her arms. She, just like Azurite seemed to be offended about the statement about her ship.

"Then, how did you get here?" Rocket asked them.

"We went to Homeworld, to ask the Diamonds to join the fight against Thanos. We broadcasted across all of their colonies for help, and then asked them to borrow us their fastest ship." Azurite explained.

"The Diamonds doing something good. I never thought I'll live to see this day." Rocket stated.

"I am Groot." Groot added.

"Yeah, me three." Azurite agreed with them.

"You understand what this tree says?" Bismuth raised her brow.

"I've known these guys for a few years now, I'm not an expert, but I know a few words." Azurite explained.

"Did you said something that you make a broadcast across all of the gem colonies and asked them for help?" Thor asked, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard this part.

"Yes." Steven confirmed with a nod of his head.

"How many of them decided to join?" Thor asked. They needed as many people as it was possible to face Thanos.

"We just hope as many as it is possible." Steven answered.

"Gamora told us that you know where the two stones are on Earth, so we thought you may take us to one of them." Shi'ra added.

"Guys. I think we're here." Spinel spoke up as everyone stopped talking with each other.

"About time." Bismuth stated, as everyone, in both of the ships, stared forward at the place they just arrived in.

Thor began smacking his palm against the side of his head, once again to see if his new eye was working correctly, "I don't think this thing works correctly. Everything now seems dark.''

"It ain't the eye." Rocket commented.

There was something wrong about Nidavellir. It was total opposite of what Rocket and Bismuth heard in the stories, or Thor remembered. It was dark, motionless , just like the three stars around it.

Thor frowned as he stated, "Something is wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen."

The two groups eventually landed on Nivadellir, and after leaving their ships that met each other in person. The meeting started with some reunions between Azurite, Shi'ra with Rocket and Groot, but there were also some proper introductions between the people who hadn't met each other, yet in person, and Azurite had to admit that Steven did actually a very good job at hiding the fact that he was a bit excited because of one of the Avengers standing right in front of him.

After a few minutes of walking through the hallways, the group made their way to the inside of the forge, where all them were walking through seemingly abandoned, cluttered room.

"I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are at cleaning." Rocket said, as he looked around the place, noting that they were the only people here, "Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

"The forge hasn't gone dark in centuries." Thor remarked.

"Someone was here before us." Shi'ra stated.

"Do you think it was him?" Steven asked, turning to the Kratai woman.

"I hope not, I hope not." Shi'ra said back, even though it was very possible.

Rocket who had apperently the same idea as Shi'ra, looked at a pedestal, "You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?"

"Yes. Why?" Thor asked him.

"Look anything like that?" Rocket asked, pointing at the outline of a gauntlet.

"I am Groot" Groot stated.

Rocket snapped to Groot, "Go back to the pad!"

"Wha..." Spinel asked, confused by sudden change of Rocket's behaviour before the two Guardians of the Galaxy were knocked away, landing on a floor a few metres away from them by a huge figure. The figure went over to Steven, Azurite, Shi'ra, Spinel and Bismuth and tried to knock them down as well, but fortunely for them, Steven formed a bubble around them, preventing the figure from hitting them.

Thor noted who this person was and called out to him, "Eitri, wait! Stop!"

"Thor?" Eitri asked, stopping in his rush.

"What happened here?" Thor wanted to know.

"You were supposed to protect us! Asgard was supposed to protect us!" Eitri shook his head, furiously.

"Asgard is destroyed, Eitri." Thor explained as Eitri seemed to calm down up a bit, but in not a good way. He now believed that Thanos had destroyed Asgard and Thor was left him in a similiar survivor role of a sole survivor, like him, "Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"

Eitri paused, as he walked across the floor to a second, before he sat on the floor, leaning against an ore skip. Rocket and Groot got themselves back on their feet before Eitri began a rather solemn story of what happened in Nidavellir, ''300 dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours,' he said. 'But your hands are mine alone."

Thor took Eitri by the shoulders, "Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed... every ax, hammer, sword... it's all inside your head. Now I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos."


	20. Stormbreaker

Things were bad for Jasper, Lapis, Peridot and the remaining Guardians to say the least.

After failing to retrieve the Reality Stone, the three gems from Little Homeworld along with Quill, Drax and Mantis went to the ship of the latter ones to discuss what they were going to do now, it didn't exactly went like they thought. They've been inside of their ship for over five hours, and they didn't do anything useful. Quill had completely lost it after Thanos took Gamora, and the main problem about it was that he wouldn't stop playing the same song, for over five hours now! The main reasoning behind this was because he wanted to 'get his groove back." or something like that.

Everyone had no idea what he meant by that, but decided to not ask him about that.

"Peridot. Can you?" Jasper finally asked the short green gem, having enough of this song as all of the gems sat by the table.

"If it is like my tablet." Peridot nodded her head as she raised her hand and a moment after she catched Quill's zune with her metal powers and brought it to herself. When it was finally in front of her, Drax immediately took it from her, and turned it off.

"Finally." Lapis said, being sick of this song just as much as everyone else was.

For a few moments, there was quiet. Then Quill yelled from his seat, faint, "Turn it back on!"

"No!' Drax shouted.

Quill pointed at the three gems, "Can one of you take it from him? You're closer to him than me."

"That's not an option." Peridot shook her head.

"We were getting sick of listening to the same song over and over again." Lapis said what was on their minds.

"That's right Quill! I will not listen to the same song! Over and over and over!" Drax agreed with Lapis.

"I'm screwed up, man. I gotta get back in the groove! Specifically the New York Groove!" Quill reminded them why this song should play over and over again.

Drax still held the zune with himself, refusing to give it back to his captain.

"Give me the Zune." Quill repeated himself.

"No!" Drax said back, shaking his head.

"Give. Me. The. Zune!" Quill proceeded to repeat himself.

"No!" Drax's answer was the same, as he ran away with it, with the device still in his hands.

Quill turned to the three gems, "I know you already refused to give it back to me, but I'm asking you again."

"No." Jasper shook her head.

"This isn't helping anyone, Quill, and that includes you too." Lapis pointed out.

''The man who sings this song is a degenerate!" Drax stated.

''I will not sit here and allow you to malign Ace Freely!" Quill exclaimed as he booked it to Drax, on the opposite side of the table from him. The two were equal distance away.

"Both of you stop!" Peridot said, as she jumped on the table, "Arguing is the last thing we should do now!"

''Give me the Zune!" Quill shouted, ignoring what Peridot just said as Drax trying to figure out in which way Quill was going to go, so he could duck him.

"Stop both of you!" Jasper said, standing up from her seat along which was quickly followed by Lapis.

Quill, still ignoring what everyone was saying to him, chased Drax around the table, avoiding the spots where gems stood, until the one who had the Zune said, "Ace Freely is not helping! We haven't even left Knowhere yet!''

"Quill, we understand that you're upset because of Thanos taking Gamora, but sitting and listening to the same song for hours is not going to help you!" Lapis pointed out.

''I'll feel better!" Quill pointed out.

"You won't until you stand up from that seat and do something!" Jasper stated.

"We lost Gamora because of you." Quill said, with his eyes not leaving Drax.

"We lost Gamora, because you would not allow me to seize the moment!" Drax stated, before gesturing towards Lapis, "She was the one who was holding me to the ground with her water magic!"

"What did you just say?" Lapis asked, clearly taken off the guard by Drax blamed her for holding him away from Thanos with her water chains, "We had a chance to suprise him but you wanted to attack him the moment you set your eyes on him!''

Drax scoffed at Lapis reply, avoiding her angry expression as he looked at Quill, "What do you care? You tried to kill her!"

"She said I'd be saving the universe!" Quill yelled back.

Mantis, who stayed away from the entire argument suddenly spoke up, "I would kill either of you to stop this blinking yellow light.''

"Blinking yellow light?" Jasper turned her attention to the Guardian who stayed silent for majority of the argument.

"Please, don't tell us that it's what I think it is." Peridot said, as she hopped off the table, onto her disc and flew over to where Mantis was sitting, to check what this yellow light was, "Oh my stars... It is what I think it is..."

"What blinking yellow... the coded message channel?" Quill said, walking over to the screen as Peridot nodded her head in confirmation.

"How long has this been on?" Peridot asked Mantis.

Mantis didn't reply to her question, as Quill looked down to look at her, "Mantis, a blinking yellow light means someone sent us a secret coded message. How did..." His head shot up as he pointed at Drax, who now stood by Jasper's side, "This was your job."

"It was his job!" Mantis repeated, pointing at Drax.

''But..." Drax said, looking down confused, "It's yellow. And you said 'if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.' Those were your orders.''

Jasper looked at him, wanting to know if he was serious or now, and Lapis, was now angry at him for different reason.

''I wasn't talking about the coded message channel.'' Quill pointed out.

"There's... twenty-two important secret encoded messages..." Peridot spoke up as she was pointing at the screen, "Over twenty messages that could have help us..."

"And instead we were just sitting her for five hours, listening to the same song for five hours..." Jasper stated, with anger in his voice.

A beep came from the machine, as Peridot, "Oh, great. Now twenty-three!"

"Peridot? Can you read them to us?" Lapis asked as Peridot nodded her head.

"Who's Nebula?" was the first thing Peridot asked after opening the messages.

"It's Gamora's sister." Quill told her as he looked over at the messages to read them. A moment after yelled out, happily, and it seemed like he was going to freak out because of it, "Gamora is alive!"

Peridot continued reading the further messages Nebula sent them, "Thanos is taking her to Titan!"

"It must be his home planet." Lapis stated. The name of this planet was Titan, and everyone called Thanos the Mad Titan, so it was pretty obvious to her.

"...Why aren't you responding? Why aren't you responding? Are you getting my important coded secret messages?" Peridot continued reading the messages until she found something useful, " ... Ship coordinates!"

After reading the coordinates, Quill immediately moved towards the map. He began to press some things on it, probably typing the coordinates, or something similiar to that, as Jasper asked Peridot, "Peridot. Do you remember the coordinates she wrote there?"

"Of course I do." Peridot nodded her head, turning her attention to Jasper and Lapis.

"We'll follow you in Shi'ra's ship." Jasper said, to which Quill nodded his head in understanding, before the three gems moved out of the Guardians' ship and made quickly made their way to Shi'ra's ship.

At least they were where to go...

* * *

"Follow me."

Eitri's voice traveled amongst the masses, the Dwarf rising up and stomping forward out into the midst of the forge. Azurite, Shi'ra, Steven, Bismuth and Spinel stepped aside to make way for him, soon joined by Thor, Rocket, and Groot. Reluctantly all of them followed the Dwarf into a certain room. Mold casings lined the walls, a pair of metallic clamps moving across the ceiling and prying a specific mold from its place, bringing it forth to rest before the group.

"This is the plan? We're going to hit him with a brick?" Rocket stated.

Eitri shook his head, "It's a mold. A king's weapon. Meant to be greatest on Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost."

"Bifrost?" Spinel asked. She never heard about it before.

"A way to travel between realms." Eitri answered.

"So, it may take us to the Infinity Stones on Earth." Azurite stated.

"Did it have a name? The weapon?" Thor wanted to know.

The Dwarf smirked, turning to Thor and nodding. "_Stormbreaker_."

"That's a bit much." Rocket stated.

Thor stepped forward, "So, how do we make it?"

''You'll have to restart the forge. Awaken the heart of a dying star." Eitri answered, glancing to where the start would be lit.

Thor glanced over around the group, "Which one of you is the strongest"

Everyone looked at Bismuth who nodded her head, as she asked, knowing that Thor wanted something from her, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you and rabbit to fire up the pod." Thor said, earning nods from both of them.

* * *

The three gems from Little Homeworld and three Guardians of the Galaxy had arrived on Titan. The trip was quite a nervous one, but there was small relief inside of them, because at least now they knew the next possible location of Thanos, so they still had a chance to stop him, and to save Gamora from him.

After landing on this planet, both crew got out of the ships and met each other on the field.

"So, we're here." Quill was the first person to speak up.

"Ready? Are you all ready?" Jasper asked.

"You don't need to ask." Quill replied.

"Good." Jasper stated.

"Guys." Mantis spoke up, "There is something approaching."

"Something?" Quill said.

"Is it them?" Lapis asked.

"I don't know." Mantis answered, as everyone looked in the direction she was looking it, "It is like... a flying circle... that is getting very close to the ground.."

Suddenly, there was a shattering boom, hard and sharp, from outside of the ship, and it almost made Peridot fall from her disc. It was a rumbling, prolonged noise, that lasted very nearly a full minute because of its destruction.

"Guys. I think they're here." Lapis stated.

"Let us destroy them." Drax said, unsheathing his knives.

"Took those words right out of my mouth, Drax." Quill said, clicking on his mask, as Jasper summoned her helmet.

After making sure that they had everything they needed, the group headed out towards the place of the crashing. When the place where it crashed came into their view, they a large, circular ship had completely shattered on impact. It was split into two parts, and tehy were all running to the closest. They spotted that the ship had holes and rips inside of the of it, a lot of them. They could crawl through them, but luckilly for them there was no need for that, because there was a hole that was big enough for all of them to rush in. It was at the ground level.

Mantis poked her head out of the corner, and spotted three figures inside, "There are three figures who I have never seen before. I think they may be children of Thanos."

Quill nodded to the group before rolling a grenade into the room and snapping on his helmet. All six of them rushed through the doorway, ready to fight with the people inside.

"Thanos!" Drax shouted, storming the ship. He threw his knife at the cloaked figure, who neatly deflected it with a mystical shield, and in return send his cloak at Drax's face, half-smothering him and throwing him to the floor.

Quill, Lapis and Peridot immediately after rushing into the place flied up, which was quickly followed by the masked figure who took off and went after them, with Peridot being the first one he came across. The green gem lifted a piece of metal from the floor and was about to push it at the masked figure but she quickly stopped in place when she got a feeling that she already saw him. The figure titled his head at her, confused that she just stopped out of sudden, and decided to ignore her, for now. The green grem watched him leave and she couldn't help but feel that she already saw him before, but she couldn't remember where. Perharps if she got more time to look at him, she'd remember where she saw him before.

Using the fact that masked figure was confused by Peridot's actions, Lapis flied over to him, ready to put this figure in water chains in case if he attacked her and said, "Surrender, or we will use force."

"Go ahead, blue-clues." The masked figure said back, the blaster on his hand was in ready, but before he could fire it Lapis who was already prepared for his attack, Quill threw a device at his suit, which pinned him into the wall.

Mantis approached a person in a strange spider costume, who after spotting her began to crawl back from her, ''Ah! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don't put your eggs in me!"

The person began firing strange web at Mantis, pinning her arms to her body, just before Jasper charged into him, pushing him away from her, "Stay down!"

She was about to charge at the figure again to make that he'll stay down for the rest of the fight, but she didn't had a chance to make he way over to him, as this figure extended his spider-like legs and jumped on her, but fortunely for her, but unfortunely for him, Quill threw a electric cord that wrapped around the figure, sending him to the ground.

"Die blanket of death!" Drax shouted, thrashing at the cape that still tried to suffocate him.

The masked figure in the suit freed himself from the magnet that practically glued him into the wall, as Quill picked the person in the spider costume from the ground, and held him close to himself, as a hostage as Jasper stood close to both of them. Seeing this, the masked figure flied over to Drax, who was pulled away from the cloak who went back to it's owner a second after. The masked figure put his boot on his torso, holding him down to the floor, having his weapon aimed at him, while the other one was aimed at Quill and Jasper who were still holding the person in the spider costume as a hostage. The caped figure stood near Mantis, ready to fight with Lapis who was now standing in front of him. She was ready to fight with him too.

"Everybody calm the hell down! Chill the F out!" Quill said as he clicked his mask off his face, and pointed his blaster at the masked figure, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?"

"I'll do you one better! _Who's _Gamora!" The masked figure responded.

"I'll do you better! _Why _is Gamora?" Drax said.

''Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French-fry this little freak." Quill said, pressing his blaster closer to the figure's face.

''Oh, yeah? Let's do it. You shoot my guy, I blast him, let's go!" The figure said, pressing his weapon closer to Drax.

"Yeah? You'll blast him, then I'll make sure that there will be nothing of your suit left!" Jasper said, readying herself to do her poweful charge.

Peridot who stayed silent for the entire fight, now finally had a good glance at the man in the suit. She was eyeing him since the fight stopped after Jasper and Quill revealed that they were holding one of their as a hostage. She knew she was him somewhere before, and after having a good chance to eye him, she finally realized who it was. The actions, the his suit. Especially his suit.

She gasped in shock, "Wait a second... Are you Iron Man?"

The masked figure looked over at the short gem, with his hand still up and blaster still charged. The mask fell away, and Peridot found out that her suspicious were correct it was Tony Stark! One of the Avengers! She cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. Steven showed her videos of this guy on TubeTube!

"How do you know me?" He asked, clearly suprised that this alien knew who he was.

Lapis, recognizing this man as well, lowered her hands, "Everyone! Relax! We're on the same side!"

"What? Who are they?" Jasper asked, turning to the two gems.

"So, you're not with Thanos?" The masked figure who was held by Quill asked.

"_With _Thanos?! No, I'm here to kill Thanos! He took my girl. Wait... who are you?" Quill asked, confused by what was just happening.

"We're the Avengers, man." The figure who was held by Quill answered, as his mask fell away, revealing a teenager.

Quill lowered his blaster and Jasper's helmet disappeared from her head, both of them realizing that everything that happened now was just a misunderstanding, "Oh."

"You're the ones Thor told us about." Mantis stated.

"You know Thor?" Tony raised his brow.

"Yeah. Tall guy, not that good looking, needed saving." Quill answered.

"Where is he now?" The caped man asked.

"He went to a place called Nidavellir to get some weapon to kill Thanos." Quill explained.

"If you're Iron Man, then who are these these two?" Jasper asked, gesturing towards spider-figure and the caped man.

"I'm Peter." The person in the spider costume introduced himself in a friendly manner despise the fact that Quill and Jasper held him as their hostage just a moment ago, as his mask disappeared from his face, revealing a kid in his teenage years, "But you can call me Spider-Man."

"My name." The caped man said, tersely, "Doctor Strange."

"What are you doing here?" Peridot asked, confused by the fact that one of the Avengers along with two other heroes from the Earth was in space, instead of Earth.

"Because I have what he wants." Strange said, doing some weird things with his hands, before the necklace on his neck opened, revealing what it was hiding.

Peridot could feel her eyes opening widely in shock...

This man had one of the Infinity Stones in his necklace...

* * *

The group was getting themselves ready to create Stormbreaker. Rocket and Bismuth were in the escape pod, as Thor and Eitri were getting everything that would help them in some way.

Azurite, Spinel, Steven and Shi'ra stood in the back, their part of this whole thing being to help Eitri if there will something he'll need help with.

Azurite was chatting with Spinel as they waited for the signal which would inform them that the process of making Stormbreaker has begun, as Steven approached them, "Hey guys."

"Steven." Spinel said to him, with a small smile.

"What is it?" Azurite asked him.

"I was wondering If I can talk with you, Azurite. In private." Steven asked them.

Azurite and Spinel exchanged looks together, before the latter one nodded her head, "Sure." She glanced at Azurite, "I'll be with Shi'ra."

Azurite nodded his head at her, before Spinel went over to Shi'ra, leaving him alone with Steven, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know how are you doing." Steven told him.

"I'm doing just as you can except, kid." Azurite answered.

"Nervous?" Steven asked, saying the first thing that came into his mind.

"Nervous? That's a gentle way to put it." Azurite stated.

Steven put his hand on his, "Azurite, I know I said it before. I don't know about him as much you do, but I know there has to be a way to stop him."

"How do you know that? The last time we information about him, he had two Infinity Stones, and with the Space Stone, he can be everywhere right now. He may even have more of them now. If this axe will be able to kill him even with the stones, then we need to make it." Azurite told him.

"I'm just certain that we're going to find a way how to stop him. I'm sure that you were having similiar thoughts when you and Quill's crew defeated Ego." Steven said.

"Ego was a much different situation." Azurite pointed out.

"I know that, but from what the Diamonds told me about celestials about two days after you moved to Little Homeworld is true, then it certainly wasn't an easy thing to do." Steven said.

"Because it was. Sometimes I still wonder how I got out of there alive." Azurite said.

"This is what I'm talking about here, Azurite. All of us are ready to do whatever it takes to stop him Believe me, we're going to find a way to defeat him, no matter how much it'll take.'' Steven assured him.

"If you say so, kid." Azurite said, as he bit his lips at what he was going to say now, "I never got to say this, but thank you."

"For what?" Steven raised his brow at this.

"For everything. If you didn't follow me into my ship after I fought with you, I'd probably still be working as a mercenary and do jobs for the people I despise, but in Little Homeworld, even though it took me a while to open up myself to the other, I feel happy in there. I haven't been that happy since Konoritos. I met gems, and some of them became very close friends of mine, I even found someone I grew to cherish." Azurite said.

''Azurite, you don't need to thank me for that. I knew you weren't evil. You were just a gem who was in a need of help and wanted to belong somewhere, but his past experiences were driving him away from having what he wanted." Steven said, with a small wave of his hand.

"But it still doesn't change the fact. Even though we don't talk with each other very often, I'm grateful to you." Azurite said to him.

Steven smiled at him.

Azurite returned the smile.

Before the coversation could continue, they heard Thor who didn't had any environmental suit on himself, jumping from the hull onto the ring surface with a cable in his hand attached to the pod.

"I don't think you get the scientifics here. These rings are gigantic. You wanna get them moving, you're gonna need something a lot bigger to yank 'em loose." Rocket stated.

Thor looked back to Rocket and Bismuth, "Leave that to me."

"Leave that to you. Thor, you're in space. All you got is a rope and a..." Rocket was cut off as Thor began swinging the pod around him in a circle. Rocket and Bismuth both screamed, not excepting it, as Thor builded up speed with three good loops then slacked his grip enough to send the pod shooting straight away from Nidavellir, trailing him behind it like a kite tail.

Bismuth was the first one in the pod to shake off from the sudden movement as she pressed forward, ignored the twirling mess her head had become, and roared as the engines came to life

As the pod skimed over the surface of the next ring out, Thor reached down and dig one hand into the surface, then both feet, finally getting a foothold against the forward motion of the pod. The ice-like accumulation around the ring axis crackles, "More... Power... Guys!"

Rocket responded in kind, and put his hand on Bismuth's on the thrusters, putting everything he had into the rings spin free, realigning into effective configuration as the star bursted back into life.

Spinel cheered at the star turned back on, "Yes!"

"Well done boy." Eitri stated.

Thor, clutching the pod's windows, points at the star, "That's Nidavellir!"

Rocket and Bismuth glanced at the blazing core, with smiles growing on their faces as they were amazed by the view of t. An iris on the cladding around the star opened, firing pure stellar heat through the ring portals and into the forge... until the damaged mechanism failed, crumbled loose and slammed shut. The iris closed and the beam of light trailed off.

"Dang it..." Eitri said.

"Dang it? What do you mean by it?" Shi'ra wanted to know, looking up at the dwarf.

''The mechanism is crippled.'' Eitri answered, running all over the room to look at different instruments.

"What?" Thor asked.

''With the iris closed I can't heat the metal." Eitri replied.

''How long will it take to heat?" Thor asked another question.

''A few minutes, maybe more. Why?" Eitri responded.

"I'm gonna hold it open." Thor exclaimed.

"That's suicide." Eitri told him.

"So is facing Thanos without that axe." Thor pointed out.

Azurite swallowed, knowing that Thor was right, "He's right. We need to make this axe."

Thor was now standing in the rings, preparing himself, "Allfathers, give me strength.''

"You better have your spit prepared, kid." Shi'ra whispered to Steven.

"Don't worry about it." Steven assured her.

''You understand, boy? You're about to take the full force of a star. It'll kill you." Eitri said to Thor.

Thor shook his head, and took a deep breath, "Only If I die."

Eitri nodded, confused, "Yes. That's what... "killing you" means.''

Thor let out one last breath, before grasping the two levers. He pulled them down and towards himself, slowly opening the iris. The stream of stellar energy blasted past him and into the forge once again.

"Hold it! Hold it, Thor!" Eitri yelled as he ran over to mold, followed by the rest. They watched the metal ingots melt while Thor was weaker and weaker with each second. Finally, Eitri was able to tip the cauldron, pouring the metal into the mold, and to make this whole process faster, Azurite, Steven, Spinel and Shi'r ran over to him and helped him to pour the metal, just as Thor passed out. The jet carried him into the forge, Rocket and Bismuth followed him and landed right after Thor bounced limply off a structure and landed on the floor. Groot finally looked up from his game at the sound Thor's body made.

"No." Steven said, running over to Thor's lifeless body.

Bismuth and Rocket got out of the pod and ran over to the God of Thunder and knelt down, as the latter one said to him, "Thor! Say something. Come on. Thor, you okay?''

"C'mon, we need you." Bismuth said after Rocket, shaking Thor's body, before glancing over at Steven, "Steven."

"I'm on it!" Steven who was already kneeling beside Thor licked his hands and placed them on Thor's body, earning a confused look from Rocket.

"He has a healing spit. It may heal him." She explained, earning a nod of understanding from Rocket.

"He needs the axe!" Eitri stated, frantic, "Where's the handle! Tree! Help me find the handle!"

As Eitri, Rocket, Bismuth, Spinel ans Azurite scrambled around the workshop, trying to fit a handel that would fit the axe, Steven stayed behind and still had his hands on Thor, trying to keep him alive.

Groot looked sadly at Thor, then scowled with determination. He stood up, dropping his game on the ground. He extended his fingers towards the two parts of Stormbreaker, growing them. As he twined them around the two parts, he cried out at the burning pain, but didn't stopped, slamming them together and locking them permanently into one thing. He raised it above his head, with a cry, and chopped his extended arm with his other hand.

Thor's fingers started to twitch, which Steven didn't fail to notice. He let his hands off Thor's body as the new weapon levitated in a crackle of lightning echoed by the sparks between Thor's fingers.

They did it.

They created Stormbreaker...

* * *

Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, Quill, Mantis, Drax, Tony, Peter and Strange made their way out of Thanos and moved to a place where they could plan their next move, because with Strange owning one of the Infinity Stones, it was now obvious that Thanos will come here sooner or later and they needed a plan how to fight him.

''The hell happened to this planet?" Quill asked with a device which was giving him the reading of Titan, "The planet's eight degrees off it's axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."

"What happened here?" Lapis asked, taking a moment to observe basically apocalypse weathered planet. This planet was certainly far away from it's golden years.

"I don't think I want to know, Lapis." Peridot answered.

''Yeah, well. We've got one advantage. He's coming to us." Tony stated, "We'll use it."

"Then take him down, I hope." Jasper said.

"Alright. I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one." Tony said said, having everyone gather around him, as they listened to what he had planned, "Simple enough. We draw him in, get him down, take what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet..."

Tony was suddenly cut off by the sound of Drax, yawning, loudly.

"Are you yawning?" Tony asked, turning to Drax, who seemed to not pay any attention to him, "In the middle of this? When I'm breaking it down? Did you hear what I said?

"I stopped listening after you said 'we need a plan." Drax truthfully responded.

''Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page." Tony said to Quill, pointing at Drax.

''Yeah, not winging it isn't really what we do." Quill explained.

"Um." Peter raised his hand, pointing at Drax, "What exactly is it that you do?"

"Kick names. Take ass." Mantis said firmly.

"Yeah, that's right." Drax nodded his head to that.

Jasper slapped her hand to her face, as Lapis and Peridot stared at the two Guardians, neither of them responding to what they just said.

Tony was doing similiar thing to Lapis and Peridot. He just stared at them, blankly, uresponsive, before he finally said, after a moment, "Alright, just get over here, please... Mr. Lord, if you could get your people to circle up?''

"Mr. Lord.'' Peter scoffed, gesturing to Mantis and Drax to join them, ''Star-Lord is fine''

''We gotta coalesce, because if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude, then..." Tony was interrupted by Quill.

''Dude. Don't call us plucky. We don't even know what that means." Quill cut in.

''It means having optimism in a bad time.'' Peridot explained.

"Now, we know." Quill said, ''Alright, yes, we're optimistic. I like your plan, except, it sucks. So let me do the plan, and that way, it might be really good."

The trio of gems shared a besumed glances with each other.

''Tell him about the dance off to save the universe." Drax said confidently to Quill, with his hands on his belt, as Quill stared at him, annoyed.

"What dance off?" Tony asked.

"It's nothing." Quill waved it off.

"Jasper, do you know anything about this?" Peridot whispered to Jasper, looking up at the orange gem.

"Did Azurite told you about them defeating a guy named Ronan the Accuser?" Jasper whispered back.

"Yes. He did that when he was pretending to be a guy who just wants to buy his friend a birthday gift." Lapis answered, remembering the talk she, Peridot, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Bismuth had with Azurite, not long before Spinel and Steven revealed his true intentions.

"One of the reasons why they won was because Quill distracted him with a dance off, giving Rocket and Drax enough time to strike." Jasper explained, saying the same thing Azurite told her a while ago.

"Are you serious?" Lapis asked, clearly not imagining that it was how the Guardians defeated Ronan the Accuser.

"No, I'm not." Jasper responded. She wasn't exactly a joking mood, "He saved an entire planet with a simple dance off."

"A dance off, like in Footloose the movie" Peter asked in disablief.

"Exactly like Footloose!" Quill said, suddenly elated, "Is it still the greatest movie in history?"

Peter grimaced, "It never was."

"That's right." Peridot agreed with Spider-Man, as Quill looked like someone just slapped him in the face, "The movie version of Camp Pinning Hearts is the greatest Earth movie In history."

"It never was neither." Peter shook his head, making Peridot frown. Even Lapis frowned at his words.

"Don't encourage this, you two." Tony said to Peter and Peridot, "We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here.''

"Flash Gordon?" Quill replied, "By the way? That's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm only half human, so that 50% of me that stupid is 100% of you.''

''Your math is blowing my mind right now." Tony stated.

"Excuse me." Mantis interrupted, looking back to where her eye were on a moment ago, "Does your friend often do that?''

Clearly confused, Tony stepped forward, "Strange! We alright?"

Doctor Strange didn't respond, floating in a meditative pose, with his cape flowing behind him. Around him hunk the necklace with the Time Stone which was active at the moment. His head was shaking widly, leaving after expressions ranging from shock, to anger, to frustation.

Tony slowly walked over to him, and everyone else followed. Just before he reached him, Strange fell to the ground with a yell, his head no longer blurred and snapping.

"You're back, you're alright." Tony said, kneeling down to him.

"What were you doing?" Lapis asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I went forward in time. To view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict." Strange explained.

"How many did you see?" Quill asked.

''Fourteen million, six hundred and five." Strange replied.

Tony hesitated to ask, "How many did we win?"

Strange paused for a moment. His gaze was mostly at Tony. He finally replied in dread, "One..."

* * *

Location: Wakanda

On the Earth, The Avengers and Wakandans were struggling to hold back hordes of the outriders.

A few of the invaders pinned Bucky Barnes, the Winter soldier to the ground, who tried to fight them off by drawing his knife out and stabbing them. War Machine was in the sky, unloading everything he had as the outriders were charging through the hole in the wall, before something really big hit him and made him fall on the ground. King T'Challa in his Black Panther suit was slicing through every outrider that attacked him, but was eventually brought down on the ground by a few outriders at the time, as Captain America was pinned into a rock, stabbing the outrider into the neck with his new shield, before the other one grabbed him and threw him to to the ground.

"There's too many of them!" He shouted.

Suddenly, a large beam of light appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the field, and an axe flied out of it, wreathed with lightning and tearing through the Outriders, freeing everyone who was pinned down by them. It flied back to the light the beam cut out, revealing Thor, Groot Rocket, Azurite, Steven, Shi'ra, Spinel and Bismuth. Rocket jumped off Thor's shoulder and cocked his rifle, Groot stood ready for battle, both of Bismuth's hands turned into a very sharp blades, Steven summoned his shield, Azurite readied his claws, Shi'ra drew her spear out as her plasma caster in ready as well, and Spinel took her scythe out of her chest.

"You guys are so screwed now!" Bruce Banner who was in the Hulkbuster suit shouted, the mask disappearing for a second revealing his grinning face.

"**Bring me Thanos**!" Thor growled as all of them charged forward at the horde of the Outriders

Lightning was gathering around the God of Thunder until he launched himself into the air, landed in the densest concentration of Outriders and made a crater where they had stood...

* * *

**I already have written some parts of the next chapter (Like Orange Pearl having her last laughs with Centi and her crew before the battle), but it may take him more than usual chapter to write, mostly because it's going to have a lot of fight scenes. Like the fight on Titan, or Azurite vs Proxima Midnight.**


	21. The Battles of Wakanda and Titan

If Orange Pearl honest with herself, things were never that tense in Little Homeworld as they were now. The message Steven and Azurite broadcasted across all of the gem colonies did it's jobs and many gems who decided to join the fight started arriving in Little Homeworld. Many of them arrived there by using warps but some of them arrived in their ships, like the ships from Homeworld which were going to take them to the Infinity Stones if Garnet will receive the coordinates from Azurite, or the human zoo with every Amethyst and Jasper there ready to fight, even Holly Blue Agate decided to help them even though she was known as one of the gems who weren't a fan of Era 3, but it didn't seem to matter when there was a guy who wanted to wipe out half of all life in the universe.

Even Steven's friend Connie came here to help them. She was informed about this situation by Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst and immediately agreed to help them.

Many of them were currently preparing themselves for the fight and Orange Pearl was one of them. She swung her fists around at the invisible target Azurite has been teaching her how to fight for a few months now, and she knew that she had to be ready. She knew she was better at fighting than she was when Azurite started teaching her everything he knew about, because he and the other told her about it many times, but she knew that it was going to be something much different than her daily lessons.

She stopped her traning when she heard a familiar voice. She turned to the source of it and saw Centi, who was standing beside Terra and Cotta in the clothes she never saw her wear before. She assumed it must've been her battle clothes, or something like that. Her green friend said something to the two members of her crew that made them flinch, before walking away from their captain.

"Ouch." Orange Pearl said as she approched Centi, causing the said gem to turn around to her, "You didn't had to go that hard on them, you know?"

"I know, and I'm sorry about that Orange. I want them to be ready for whatever is going to happen. I've been their captain for so long, and I feel like I need to protect them at any price. I just care a lot about them, you know?" Centi said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

Orange Pearl chuckled, giving Centi a quick pat on her shoulder, "Of course I know that, Centi. You're one of my closest friends. Besides you're just doing your job as their captain."

Centi have her a small smile, which faded just a second after. There was something she was holding inside of herself for a while now, and she wanted to let it out of her chest, "Do you know what has been on my mind for a while, Orange?"

Orange Pearl shook her head, "Nope."

"I've been having this thought on the back of my head for a while now, and now that we may head to the battle at any moment, I feel like I need to talk with someone about it." Centi explained.

"Tell me if you want to. You know that you tell me everything." Orange Pearl assured her.

Centi nodded her head. She let out a short sigh, as she started, "...Sometimes I wonder if I deserve all of this. Life here, friends, crew who cares about me."

"...What?" Orange Pearl asked, not understanding why Centi would think like that, "Centi you're one of nicest gems I know. Why do you think like that?"

Centi let out another sigh, ''They're my crew and I'm their captain. That's how it always has been. But, sometimes I wonder why I was choosen to be their captain. We are all the same, but no matter how many times I think about, there's always one thing I'm certain about. I need them and they need me. Maybe that's why they were waiting for me for all those years when we were corrupted. Maybe they needed a leader. They trust me, after all... and I'm not going to forgive myself if something happens to them, again."

"If they were waiting for you for all of these years, then I assure that you're doing a good job." Orange Pearl tried to assure her.

"Even if I left them to die by my own cowardly? I failed them and I ran away right after Hessonite gave us orders to retreat." Centi asked her.

"What?" Orange Pearl asked her.

Centi bit the bottom part of her lips as she continued, "I don't know what they told you about this battle, and I didn't told you much about it, because as you know, I don't like to talk about it that much, but after hearing the orders, I panicked and ran along with other gems to the ships. Instead of searching for my crew, like a good captain should do, I ran, you know what happened after that."

Orange Pearl sighed, as she wrapped her arm around her friend, comfortingly, "Centi, I'll honest with you here. I don't know how it's like to have something like you on your back, because I was made after the war, but please stop blaming yourself. You didn't had control of what happened there, everyone makes mistakes, even gems who think they shouldn't because of their position. Your past mistakes shouldn't define you are. Who you are now is what matters."

"...Thanks Orange." Centi smiled at her, after a moment.

"Anytime." Orange Pearl smiled back, as she looked up at the sky, "Where do you think they are now?"

''Azurite, Spinel, Shi'ra, Jasper?" Terra's voice came from their side and they saw the said Nephrite walking over to her, in hand with Cotta as the other gems from Centi's crew walked behind these two.

"Them." Orange Pearl nodded her head in confirmation.

"You don't need to worry about them. Steven and Bismuth are with Azurite, Spinel and Shi'ra, and Peridot and Lapis so I'm sure they're okay." Someone from Centi's crew, a Nephrite with a white hair tied into a ponytail stated.

"I hope you're right." Orange Pearl told her, "It's just been a while since all of them left. We're not even sure if Jasper, Peridot and Lapis along with the Guardians got the stone before Thanos, or if Azurite, Spinel, Shi'ra, Steven and Bismuth even made it to Nidavellir."

"You're just worried about your friends, Orange. They're going to make it, trust me, and maybe who knows, maybe once this is all be over, we'll be having a drink with a drop of the alcohol that Shi'ra owns and then complain about how bad it tastes." Centi chuckled at the thought of them being disgusted by the taste of this thing, once again.

"I still have no idea how she, Azurite and Jasper can drink it." Orange Pearl shook her head with a smile.

"Are you talking here about the drink you told us? That almost made you spit it out because of it's sour taste?" Cotta asked her captain.

"That one." Centi confirmed it with a nod of her head.

''Shi'ra only drinks it on a special occasions, so it may depend if she'll consider it one." Orange Pearl pointed out.

"Defeating this Thanos will be certainly a special occasion." Someone from Centi's crew stated.

"Maybe you're right." Orange Pearl said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"If she'll decide that we should have a drink with it once this all be over, we'll convice her to let all of you try it." Centi told her crew.

"Most of us never tried a drink like that." Terra stated.

''Neither did we before she let us try it." Centi pointed out.

"_Garnet! We're here! Here's the coordinates!_" Azurite's voice suddenly came from Shi'ra's device which was currently on Garnet's arm as it opened. The last thing that could be heard before it closed down, was the sound of someone, presumably Steven throwing their shield at something, and Azurite thanking him for taking care of it.

"Everyone!" Garnet's voice suddenly rang across the place, as Orange Pearl, Centi, Terra, Cotta and the rest of Centi's crew turned their heads in the direction of the voice, "I just got the message from Azurite with the coordinates! Thanos forces are already there! We need to get moving!"

Garnet didn't had to say more. Everyone immediately reacted to this revelation.

Back in Wakanda things were looking better for the people defending one of the Infinity Stones than they were before Thor along with his new allies came to help them but it was still far away from perfect. The God of Thunder was doing most of the job, clearing hordes of the outriders with his new weapon but Azurite, Spinel, Steven, Shi'ra and Bismuth were holding their own pretty well, taking care of everything that tried to attack them, with all five of them staying by each other side since arriving in this place.

All of them could feel smiles growing on their faces as a few ships that were carrying all of the gesm that joined the fight against the Mad Titan. Everyone's ears were met with loud booming sound of a foghorn as the gems began to depart from their ships. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst were leading the charge, with Connie who was sitting on Lion's back being closely behind them. There were many unknown faces for Azurite in this huge group of gems, but there were some familiar faces there. Biggs Jasper, Blue Lace Agate, Zebra Jasper, Ocean Jasper, Rainbow Jasper, Snowflake Obsidian, Bixbite, Orange Spodumene, only a name of few. He also spotted Orange Pearl, running side by side with Centi and her crew.

All of the gems charged forward, a unified battle cry filling the air as they clashed with a horde of Outriders that charged at them the moment they appeared on the battlefield.

"Everyone! One of the Infinity Stones is here! We need to protect it with at all cost!" Steven shouted, throwing is shield at Outrider who tried to jump on him.

Every gem heard him. They knew what they had to do.

Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight watched the arrival of the gem kind from the back of the battlefield.

The first one gritted his teeth as the latter one just stared at what just transpired with unreadable expression on her face.

This was a big complication in their mission.

* * *

Thanos finally arrived at Titan, stepping the portal created by the Space Stone. He glanced around himself and the first thing he saw was fresh debris from the ship of one of his servants_, _but it wasn't the only thing he spotted. He also spotted Doctor Strange. The Master of the Mystic Arts was sitting _o_n what may have been plaza steps once.

''Oh, yeah, you're much more of a "Thanos." Strange said to him.

''I take it the Maw is dead." Thanos took a deep sigh, "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."

''You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts." Strange told him.

''And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asked him as Star-Lord crouched behind wreckage with his weapon ready, Jasper was next to him. The huge gem summoning her helmet as she clutched the bomb Quill gave her in her right hand. Spider-Man peeked from above and behind Doctor Strange.

"Let me guess. Your home?" Strange stated, deciding to let Thanos talk.

Thanos smiled reminiscently, "It was. And it was beautiful."

He raised his gauntleted fist and activated the Reality Stone to show Strange Titan before it was destroyed. A second after their surroudings started to change. Green lawns, intact buildings, water-filled ponds, walking citizens, the jack-like structures hovering and connected to the ground-based buildings with beams of energy. It all seemed like a pretty normal planet. Peridot and Lapis were looking around their surroudings from their hiding places. This planet was indeed _beautiful_.

''Titan was like most planets." Thanos continued, "Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

Strange's heart pounded, "Genocide."

"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." Thanos explained with a quick nod of his head as he lowered his fist. The Stone stopped glowing and the illusion went back into the true state of Titan.

''Congratulations. You're a prophet." Strange said, sarcastically.

"I'm a survivor." Thanos corrected him.

''Who wants to murder trillions." Strange pointed out.

''With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers." Thanos said, snapping his finger with his free hand to clarify his point, "And they would all cease to exist. I call that... _mercy_."

''And then what?" Strange asked him, standing up.

''I finally rest... and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. _The hardest choices require the strongest wills._" The Mad Titan remarked.

''I think... you'll find..." Strange started, entering a fighting pose, "_Our _will... equal to yours."

Thanos titled his head forward to the right a bit, "Ours?" He looked up _to _a see a chunk of wreckage descending rapidly on him, too rapidly to react and it was powered by Iron Man. He was competely crushed by it.

"Piece of cake, Quill." He remarked.

''Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off!" Quill pointed out, his mask covering his face.

The wreckage on top of Thanos erupted in purple, as he bellowed in rage. He turned the hovering fragments into a flock of bats with the Reality Stone and swarmed Iron Man with them, driving him back through the ruins. Spider-Man fired his web right at his eyes, and swung in to kick him in the face at the same time that Drax and peridot leaped from cover, the first ones blades in both hands, to knee-slide behind Thanos and try for a tendon slide across the back of the Titan's knee as Peridot was carrying several pieces of metal thanks to her metal powers.

As Peridot started pushing every piece of metal at him, one by one, Doctor Strange jumped through a portal and summoned a sword of golden energy, dueling with Thanos while Drax attacked him similarly on his other side and while Peridot was pushing more and more metal at him. Thanos punched Drax who's body then knocked Peridot from her disc, causing all of the pieces of metal to fall down, then he shattered the blade with one hand and teared the web from his eyes. He advanced on Doctor Strange and kicked at him, but Strange's shield defended him from the damage before his cloak lifted him up from the ground.

Quill and Jasper were making their way to him, Star Lord shooting at Thanos from behind. Thanos used the Power Stone to shoot balls of energy them while these leaped towards him, using magical platforms thrown in his path by Doctor Strange, the last one placed above Thanos' head. Jasper and Quill shared a look together, knowing what to do next. Quill began to fire at Thanos from the air, earning the Titan's' attention with a small help of Peridot who had gotten herself back on her disc and pushed the piece of metal that was lying nearby at Thanos' back. Using this situation, Jasper jumped above Thanos' head and placed the bomb Quill gave her before the battle on Thanos' back. She glared at the Mad Titan, before falling backward into a portal that formed behind her.

The explosion knocked Thanos to his knees.

"Do not let him close his fist." Strange whispered to his cloak. The cloak took off Doctor Strange's shoulders and wrapped itself tightly around Thanos' hand, who started trying to take it off.

The two portals suddenly appeared, one at Thanos right, the other one on his left. Lapis Lazuli came out of one of them. A wave of water forming behind her as she fired it Thanos. The Titan absorbed the water with the Reality Stone, but what he didn't know was that Lapis used it as a distraction to wrap the water chains around his arms. The Titan struggled to break himself free, before coming up what he can do with the water he absorbed earlier. He fired it at Lapis, who was not ready for this sudden attack. It knocked her away from him, at least for now.

The moment after that happened, Peter Parker came out of the other portal, as he started attacking him.

"Magic!" The young Avenger punched Thanos in the head and vanished through a portal to the lower right before reappearing above Thanos, "More magic!" He yanked Thanos' head down hard, then leaped into a portal in front of him. He leaped through another portal high and behind Thanos, "Magic with a kick!" He delivered a flying kick and fell feet-first into an exit, then appeared on his right, "Magic with a..."

Before he could finish, Thanos grabbed him from the air, and threw him to the ground, with his hand around his neck

"Insect!" He growled.

He then threw him at Doctor Strange, knocking them both down. Thanos finally took the Cloak away off his gauntlet, but was suddenly surrounded by explosions as Iron Man bombarded him. He sucked all the flame into the gauntlet with the Power Stone and fired it in a stream at Iron Man, hitting him dead on and sending him far away, plowing through a massive fallen machine.

Spider-Man jumped from behind, while Thanos full attention was on his fire on Iron Man. He fired his web the gauntlet and dropped down in front of him, pulling it down, but unfortunely Thanos started pulling on the web-line, pulling the much teenager towards him, and punching him on his way past. He tore the webbing off the gauntlet just in time for a small spaceship to attempt to crash-land on him.

The ship dragged Thanos along for a distance, burying him under debris. He stands just as the pilot jumped in a great arc to punch him, landing in front of him with an energy-blade at the ready.

"Well, well." He said, as before him was standing no other than his adopted daughter Nebula.

"You should have killed me!" Nebula growled at her adoptive father.

"Would've been a waste of parts!" Thanos shouted at her.

Nebula ran at him, attacking him with her blade, hitting him three times before shouting, "**Where's Gamora!?**"

Thanos punched her away from him as Doctor Strange used the Crimson Bands of to pinion the gauntlet, pulling Thanos' fingers open and trying to pry the gauntlet off his hand. The Mad Titan tried to pull free as Drax slided in from his right along with Jasper who slided in from her left, kicking his knee and knocking him off-balance. The Guardian of the Galaxy and the gem then wrapped themselves around Thanos' kneeling legs. Peridot pushed a piece of metal at Thanos' back, distracting him for a second as Lapis grabbed both of his hands with her water chains, trapping him but for how long, she had no idea. Star-Lord fireda electric trap onto the ground to Thanos' right, the tangle-field holding down his unarmored Spider-Man swung in, firing his web the Mad Titan's chest then wrapped it around behind him, digging his Iron Spider legs into the ground to anchor himself.

Doctor Strange opened a portal straight above Thanos' head out of which fell Mantis, landing on the Titan's shoulders, her hands on resting his temples. He bellowed as she tries to put him to sleep.

Iron Man, having returned, was pulling on the gauntlet. Doctor Strange reapplied the Crimson Bands to reinforce the trap's hold on Thanos' right hand, and the Cloak helped him pull. Thanos was finally not moving which allowed them to get close to him, but was not fully asleep.

"Is he under?" He asked Mantis, earning a quick nod from her, "Don't let up."

''Be quick. He is very strong." She informed all of them.

"Parker, Dorito, help!" He shouted as Peter dropped his web-line and Peridot nodded her head to that, and both of them hurried to help Tony with the gauntlet, "She can't hold him much longer. Let's go."

Quill flied over to join the others, and now stood in front of Thanos, tauntingly, "I thought you'd be harder to catch. For the record, this was _my _plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?

''_My... Gamora...?" _Thanos groaned out.

Quill scoffed, "No, bullshit. Where is she?"

''He is in anguish!" Mantis declared.

"Good!" Quill stated.

"He mourns..." Mantis added, looking like she was about to cry.

Lapis who was still holding Thanos' hands in her water chains and Peridot was was still helping Tony and Peter pull of the gauntlet off Thanos' hand shared a look with each other. The last time they saw Thanos, he teleported himself out of Knowhere with Gamora, and had three Infinity Stones at that time, and now he has four of them. And if they remembered correctly in one of the messages Nebula sent them, Thanos was taking Gamora to this planet with him but she was nowhere to be seen. An idea of what could have happened to Gamora formed in their heads, but they were hoping that it wasn't going to be it.

"Gamora..." Nebula spoke up, saying what was on their minds, as Quill turned around to her.

"...What?" He said with a small pause.

Nebula swallowed and shook her head, ''He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone... but she didn't...''

Tony looked at Quill and recognized something about him. He recognized the same fury that was going to take control of Star-Lord, just like it did with him on the day when the Avengers fell apart. The vengeance that may have been righteous, but it would result in a spiral of suffering.

"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now, you understand?" He tried to talk some sense into him.

Quill slowly turned to the Titan and shouted, enraged, "Tell me she's lying. Asshole! Tell me you didn't do it!"

"Quill don't do anything! They almost got it off!" Jasper shouted to Quill. They were so close to actually winning this.

"_...I had to..._" Thanos hissed.

''No, you didn't... ! No, you didn't..." Quill said, starting to tear up for his lost love. He continued to rage as he punched Thanos twice in the face with his blaster, causing Mantis to let go in pain, "**No! No you didn't!**"

Tony let go off Thanos' hand and leaped for Quill's arm, his helmet appearing on his face and leaving Spider-Man and Peridot to pull off the gauntlet, "Hey, stop! Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!''

"Look!' Peridot said to Peter, looking at the gauntlet which was close to coming off.

''It's coming! It's coming! It's coming!" Peter said, the fingers getting completely loose, ''We got it! We got it!''

Thanos woke up completely, now well and truly furious. He head-butted Mantis, grabbing the cuff of the gauntlet just as it is sliding off his hand, causing Spider-Man and Peridot to stumble back, and then throwing Mantis away off his shoulders.

"Oh God." Peter said as he jumped wrapped his arms and legs around her, extending his spider legs to form a roll cage for a safe landing.

The Mad Titan grabbed Peridot by her head and threw her away from all of them, then he kicked Drax off his right leg an and into Nebula and Star-Lord, knocking them down. He did the same with Jasper, only this time he threw her into Lapis, the two gems falling away, their bodies landing next to Peridot. He yanked on the Crimson Bands holding his right hand and used them to to throw Doctor Strange far away, and swatted away Iron Man and his repulsor shots. The remaining Guardians jump up and charge him again, but he fired a pulse of indigo energy at them that knocks the three of them completely unconscious.

Iron Man zoomed back in, his nanite arm cannon manifested, and is head-butted to the ground. Thanos looked at him for a beat, then raised his gauntlet towards Titan's moon. He used a combination of the Power and Space Stones to shatter the moon's surface, then bring the debris down on the field of battle at speed. Iron Man powers out of the way but is caught by a chunk of moon about the size of a baseball field, slamming him into the ground. The Guardians went sailing into the air from the rebound.

Jasper and Peridot looked up from the place they landed, and saw a piece of moon falling down at her, but before it could hit them. Lapis formed a shield of water around her and two gems to protect them and herself from the everything that was failing from the sky.

Situation just went from bad to worse.

* * *

The invasion of Wakanda was still going rather smothly for Thanos forces, even after the arrival of the gem kind and the God of Thunder. The shields surrounding the capital city had been breached and the Outriders were making more and more headway further into Wakanda.

James Rhodes and Sam Wilson ruled in the skies, firing at what seemed to be the endless waves of enemies below them. Whether it be nearly limitless rounds of ammunition, blasts, small drones, and even missiles, they always found their target. Outriders dropped dead whenever they swooped by.

Shi'ra was separated from her friends and allies a while ago. She swung and twirled and danced with her spear around any Outrider that tried to come near her. She slammed the edge of it against the side of her enemy's face, or mouth or whatever it was. All she cared about now was keeping them away from the stone as best as she could. Her plasma caster fired at one Outrider that tried to attack her from her side. A plasm of energy cutting it's body in the half. However, what she didn't notice was the fact that there was Outrider heading towards her from the other side. She realized that there was something headed towards her when a horryfic cry came from the above. Her head turned back and eyes darted forward as Outrider jumped on her. She held her spear between them, as the snarling creature snapping towards throat with its golden, teeth. As she struggled to hold it away from her, her plasma caster was ready to fire at it but before it could fire at creature pinning her down, a whip was wrapped around it, getting it off her, just a second before a blast of energy ended it's life.

Shi'ra titled her head towards it and saw Amethyst and Pearl. She was met with the latter ones hand and she took it without second thought, "Thanks."

The two gems nodded their heads at them as they joined her side. The three of them now dealing with everything that came into their way.

Bismuth engaged everything that stood in her way. With both of her hands turned into sharp blades, the Outriders didn't stood a chance against her, she was practically untouchable. She was joined by Bruce Banner in the Hulkbuster suit. He was blasting energy from the hands of this suit at the Outriders away with a shock wave of energy from her hand. She turned to him, almost taken aback by him. She lost her breath when Banner jammed the palms of the suit, with him glaring at the swarm of Outriders heading their way and let something fly through the ground. The earth underneath them trembled, and it felt like an earthquake for her, but it was okay when she saw the creatures falling on the ground. The Earthquake stopped when Banner took his hands from the ground and looked down at Bismuth, the two of them knowing what they had to do next. The Outriders who were rising up from the ground didn't stood a chance against them.

Similiar thing was with Garnet. She too didn't seem have any problem with anything going against her. Experiencing years of combat in her entire existance. She rushed faster than many people she passed meeting a group of Outriders. She ducked the pounce of one of them before sliding forward. Sha slammed one of the gauntlets at the side of rushing Outrider. The next Outrider that charged her was launched by the fusion clear across the battlegrounds, its body disappearing in the madness of this battle. She didn't had to deal with other Outriders because a lightning which she assumed came from the God of Thunder himself lit al of them, their bodies burning at the impact of the thunder.

Speaking of Thor, the God of Thunder was unleashing his wrath upon every swarm of Outriders that tried their chance on him. His new weapon letting out spark of thunder at each of his enemies as he swung it around. Steve Rogers was right next to him. Captain America rammed the end of his shields over the Outrider beneath him, his punches being strong enough to kill the creature on the second of the impact. With his hair being a mess of sweat mixed with alien blood, Steve looked over at Thor.

"New haircut?" He asked him, panting.

"Notice you've copied my beard." Thor said, gesturing towards Captain having a beard similiar to his.

Captain America nodded, wearily gesturing at his own face with a shield-covered hand as Groot extended his hand forward, impaling three Outriders with his right arm.

''By the way, this is a friend of mine. Tree." Thor introduced his new ally to his friend, gesturing towards him with Stormbreaker.

"I am Groot!" Groot said, taking his sight away from the impaled Outriders for a second.

"I'm Steve Rogers." Captain America introduced himself, putting his hand on his armor, unaware that it was all the talking tree could say.

"It's all he can say." A voice that was unknown for Captain America, but familiar for Thor and Groot sounded in their ears before a pink shield was threw at the leaping Outriders bringing it down on the floor.

"Nice throw, kid." Captain America complemented Steven who came from behind him.

"Thank you, Cap." Steven said, looking up at Captain America with a s smile. He couldn't help himself. His favourite Avenger was standing in front of him!, "Means a lot from you."

"Where you're from?" Captain America asked him

"Beach City. Delmarva." Steven answered, stopping an Outrider with his shield, before a bubble formed on his fist.

"Brooklyn, New York." Captain America said back, slamming one of his new shields at the top of the skull of an Outrider.

Natasha Romanoff and Okoye gritted their teeth and swung their weapons around as best they could as more and more Outriders came their way. By the time they realized they were being surrounded by Outriders, an energy fired at one their enemies. Black Widow and The Dora Milaje barely catched a glimpse of the Kratai and two gems standing by her side. Neither groups had the time to even share a word or two with each other. All five of them were dodging, swinging, and putting their weapons into their enemies.

Black Widow swung downwards with her staff at an Outrider held down by Amethyst's whip as Pearl stabbed one of them on the top of its skull. Shi'ra wished she could use her plasma caster now but her weapon had to recharge itself before she was able to use it again. Nevertheless, she was still practically unstoppable, and Okoye was in awe of her skills with her spear, and vice versa. The two women becoming an untouchable duo. They engaged in a dance of pure precision and devastation towards their enemies. They weaved together like pure silk, leaping to where the other stood, slashing at any Outrider that came between the two of them. When the last creature fell back, the group of five looked around to see no other Outrider left alive. Twirling her staff, Natasha turned gaze over to Shi'ra, Pearl and Amethyst looking their way. A Kratai and two gems shared a quick look with Black Widow and Okoye as they nodded their heads at each other.

A moment later, some humans and gems on the battlefield, especially the ones that were close to the trees felt a strange disturbance. The ones who weren't fighting with anything at the moment turned their heads for as second at the trees, and the ones who were fighting with the alien at the moment still had their full attention on their enemy but a shred of it was also focused on these trees. When the disturbance reached the edge of the trees, it turned into vast moving mounds of earth that easily bypass the force field and emerge. Threshers, sets of massive, motorized spiked wheels, intended for nothing more than shredding everything in their paths, some unfortunate gems and humans being one of it's victims.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" T'Challa shouted, called over to everyone that could hear him, as the Threshers were making their way through the fields.

''Focus that fire on the left flank, Sam!" Rhodes said to Wilson, both of them flying towards one of the Threshers.

''I'm doing it!'' Falcon was already firing his target as he was joined by Rhodes but unfortunely both of them couldn't find a weak spot.

Black Widow with her escrima sticks, Okoye with her augmented spear, Shi'ra with her spear and plasma caster, Pearl with her spear and Amethyst with her whip have drifted together when they suddenly found themselves in the path of a Thresher. All of them cringed at their seemingly inevitable shredding when the Scarlet Witch landed in front of all of them, eyes glowing red, lifting the whole Thresher well clear of the ground. Looking behind her, the friendly forces have scattered and replaced by a charging mob of Outriders. It was the perfect place to throw a Thresher. Black Widow and Pearl looked at her with a pleased smiles, Okoye, Shi'ra and Amethyst with an amazed look.

"Why was she up there all this time?" Okoye asked.

"That's a very good question." Shi'ra agreed with her, nodding her head.

Spinel grinned as she launched herself from the ground, extending her legs. It allowed her cut several Outriders down at the time. She looked at her work, giving it a simple nod of her head. It was right before she heard someone growling and shouting to someone to let go off her. She glanced in the direction of that voice and saw a gem, a Ruby guard with a gem in her eyeball pinned to the ground by two outriders as she the said gem was trying to get the creatures off her with her small knife. Spinel extended her legs and headed towards them, intending to save this Ruby guard as fast as she could. The gem that was in the need of help didn't had to wait much. Spinel cut through the Outriders like a hot knife through butter. She offered her hand to the Ruby guard, who after some hesitation eventually took it, allowing Spinel to help get back on her feet.

The Ruby stared at her for a second before whispering, "...Thank you."

Spinel turned to her for a second, offering a smile to the short gem before using her ability of extended libs again, heading towards another swarm of the Outriders, with intentions of taking them all out at once.

"Come and get some, space dogs!" Rocket shouted at the top of his lungs as he was firing everything he had onto another wave of Outriders heading right in his way. The Winter Soldier, having come up behind Rocket, grabbed him with his mechanical arm, held him at arms length and spins 540 degrees, firing his own M-249 at the same time. The Winter Soldier dropped Rocket, after they were done with a swarm, who looked up at him with an impressed gleam,"How much for the gun?"

"Not for sale." Bucky answered, firing at another Outriders that started heading their way.

"Okay, how much for the arm?" Rocket asked another question. The Winter Soldier just gave him a look before walking away, "Oh, I'll get that arm.''

The talking raccoon and the Winter Soldier were all suddenly taken aback when they heard a very loud roar that came from behind them. The two of them turned in the direction of the roar, and saw Lion. The huge pink animal bit in the skull one of one the Outriders and threw him above himself, the lifeless body of the allien landing several metres away from him. However, Lion wasn't alone. Connie was with him. She rammed her blade behind her, and impaled at leaping Outrider. Ripping her blade out of it's lifeless body, he looked around the battleground, her eyes spotting Rocket and the Winter Soldier.

"You're a raccoon. A _talking _raccoon!" She said, staring at Rocket in awe. In all weird things she's experienced in her life, she was never excepting to met a talking raccoon.

Rocket took the offence, "Hey, watch it, girlie!''

Orange Pearl and Centi fought together, side by side, the friends holding everything back from themselves. An Outrider leaped from the battle and jumped on Centi, the former corrupted gem grabbed the alien by its throat holding it away from her as far away as she could. Orange Pearl saw that her friends in need and brought her claw down on the Outrider's head. Centi gritted her teeth as she slammed the lifeless body of o an Outrider on the ground. The two friends shared a nod together as they went forward, taking out more and more Outriders coming their way.

Orange Pearl was doing everything she could. The orange gem was putting all the skills she learned from Azurite in Little Homeworld in use. She couldn say she was doing well, but there were some situation when she needed help from someone. One of those situation came when she was rammed to side and sent to the ground as the clawed around her like she was piece of food threw to some wild dogs. She did her best to shield her face from them with her arm while the other one tried to push them away from her. The help came when all of them were sliced down. She removed her hands from her face, confused that they were killed off in a fraction of a second, even though they were about to feast on her like they did to many humans and gems who were less fortunate than her. She looked around to see Spinel standing before her, offering her hand.

"Hey guys." Spinel greeted them, as Orange Pearl accepted her hand, allowing her to lift her up from the ground, "It's good to see you again."

"You took your time, Spinel." Centi smiled, happy to see her friend, stabbing a charing Outrider with the end of her spear.

"Better late than ever, right?" Spinel smiled as well, "Have you guys seen Shi'ra or Azzie?"

"Shi'ra is with Amethyst and Pearl. At least she was the last time I saw her." Orange Pearl said as she kocked one of the outriders, knocking it down. She dug her claws into it's body, killing it.

"Where's Azzie?" She asked them.

Azurite was making his way through the field, delivering a short fight between everyone that tried to go against him. His claws were easily ripping through their shells of skin of the Outriders. He ducked as an Outrider jumped for his head. Turning back to him, the gem reared back with his claw and slashed at the side of the beast's head, the Outrider letting out a scream and as it's life faded away from it.

It was when he saw _her_.

Proxima Midnight.

The member of the Black Order he meet during the cleansing of Konoritos was standing several metres away from him. He remembered her. She was the one who separated him from Aleena all those years ago. She was just standing there. This was his chance to get rid of her once and for all.

With a clench of his fists, he started to make his way towards her.

Upon finally reaching her, he heard her whisper something to herself, but it wasn't on his mind right now.

"You." He said to her, earning her attention, "Remember me? The gem from Konoritos?"

Proxima nodded her head, recognizing him, ''I do. What are you doing with gems? I thought they casted you out."

Azurite didn't answered to her question, instead said something else, "You took her away from me when you were murdering our neighbours. She could have survived if you didn't took her from me.''

"What happened is now history. You had an equal chance that it'll happen to you instead of her." Proxima stated.

"What happened to your precious spear?" Azurite asked, recalling that Proxima was using a spear, before not a sword, "Was it destroyed?"

"That's one of your concern." Proxima retorted.

"I'll take that as yes. Good. I'll be honest with you, when I was told that he's after the stones, I was hoping I get to kill you and it's going to be much easier now." Azurite told her, his eyes were full of hate for the woman in front of him.

"I had similiar feelings after I saw you appear on the field." Proxima said back, glaring at the gem.

Azurite unsheathed his claws.

Proxima Midnight roared.

They charged at each other and the two warriors clashed. She stabbed with her sword leading, Azurite knocking it to the aside and slicing upwards for her jugular. Hoping to see her blood fly in the air, and paint his claws. The gem growled to see her lean back at the last second, his claws only shredding an inch off her flowing hair. It didn't do nothing to her and she was still alive, still dangerous as ever. It was made him angry ever more. He knew he wasn't being himself, but everytime when he looked at her, he still saw Aleena being put in the other crowd, before being executed by the Chitauri, after they were separated from each other by her. His anger and rage was taking the control of his body.

She spun in mid-air, and her next blow as headed towards his gem on his forehead, a guaranteed death for him. Azurite caught the sword and gripped it by it's front and punched her right across her face. Proxima was down for a second, as Azurite went towards her, ready to end her life, to get his revenge from separating him from Aleena. Unfortunely for him, but fortunely for her, he didn't even had a chance to land a finishing blow on her. She quickly got herself back on her feet, and punched him as hard as she could. It was that hard that he was launched backwards, landing flat on his chest and fighting to get back up.

Proxima picked up her sword from the ground which was dropped by Azurite the moment she punched him as he after some struggling got himself back on his feet. He wasn't to die today. The member of the Black Order lunged towards the gem, with her sword and his claws sending spark across the ground. Midnight held her sword up outwards, slowly circling Azurite. The gem did the same, his claws in front of him, ready to strike or to hold another attack from her.

"You've gotten stronger." She stated.

"And it's bad for you." Azurite said, with his glare not leaving his face.

"Tell me. Do you have anyone here that you care about? Because if yes, then I'm going to make you watch them as I take of them. It'll be just like on Konoritos with that young Zaranian girl." Proxima told him.

An image of Centi, Orange Pearl, Shi'ra... and Spinel getting killed by this woman flew through his mind. He screamed and rushed at her, his claws headed to her neck. The two weapons struck once more. Weapons igniting and sparks falling on the ground as they connected, but once again, Azurite failed to hurt her, but on Midnight side, everything was going just as she wanted. She saw that this gem wanted her to see her dead, she knew that what she just said made him even more angry and thirsty for her blood, and she was going to use it to her benefits.

A wicked smile appeared on her face as she jumped backwards, just as Azurite was about to block another one of what he thought was going to be of her attacks. Azurite, who was blinded by the rage and hate for this woman that was growing inside of him since Konoritos was taken of the guard by this sudden movement had to balance himself to avoid falling on the ground, because it was easy to say that it wouldn't well for him, as Proxima landed a powerful blow on the back of his face. He stumbled back, holding his head, as Midnight headed towards him. He swung his fist at her, to hold back but she easily pushed that attempt of an attack from her with her sword, and the second after that, she landed another powerful blow on his face.

Azurite grunted in pain as Proxima grabbed him by his throat, and pinned him down to the ground, with her sword ready to land a finishing blow on the gem's forehead.

"You're going to die today, Azurite. Neither you, or your new gems friends, or these humans will stop us from getting that stone." She told him . It was supposed to be her last words to him, but then a rather unfamliar voice to her but familiar to Azurite sounded.

"You leave my gem alone..." Spinel's voice came from behind them. The member of the Black Order turned to the source of the voice and saw three gems. Spinel had her scythe in ready, Orange Pearl readied her claws and Centi held her spear in ready.

Proxima Midnight glared at the three gems before her, gritting her teeth, "But before that happens, you'll watch all of them die."

"We'll see about that." Centi said, glaring at her, knowing that this was one of the members of the Black Order Azurite told her and the rest about. She wasn't going to panic like she did when Hessonite gave her the order to retreat. She was going to fight her as long she was able to.

Midnight charged at them, letting out a horrendous scream. Her fight target was Orange Pearl, jamming her blade into the direction the orange gems eyes, but much to the suprise of both, Spinel extended her arm and grabbed Midnight, while the other hand that was wielding her scythe headed for Proxima's breastplate, but before it could do anything to her, her enemy blocked the attack with her blade. The second after, Spinel threw Proxima away from her and Centi. As Midnight skidded across the ground, she didn't even hesistated and tried to go for Centi's gem, but thankfully Centi, ducked this attack.

The green gem twirled and spun her spear around, with her the edges of her weapon going against her enemy again and again. A rather short fight between Proxima and Centi ended when Midnight swung low, heading towards Orange Pearl's legs who unfortunely for herself didn't manage to dodge this attack. The green gem was send on the ground, with her her body laying flat on her back. Proxima was ready to end her, to shatter her, and lifted her sword up, but that could happen, Centi rolled to the other side. The former corrupted gem picked up her spear by the two sides and held it above herself as the member of the Black Order brought the sword down, and instead of ending Centi's life, she broke the gems spear in the half.

Knowing that Centi's wasn't going to hold longer with being on the ground and a broken spear, Spinel extended both of her legs and slammed herself into Proxima. The two of them fumbled away into the dirt. Kicking, Spinel off her, Midnight quickly raised up from the ground, the pink gem doing the same, gritting her teeth. As Spinel swung her scythe right at Midnight, the latter one felt two blows onto her back. Turning her glance away for a second, she saw Orange Pearl.

Quickly realizing that she was fighting on two fronts, Midnight was blocking more and more strikes from Spinel, while suffering one or two blows from Orange Pearl that she didn't had time to dodge. One of those blows, which was directed to her leg, caused her to fall on her knee. She lifted her blade just as Spinel's scythe came down on her head, pushing her off of her. She then quickly jumped back on her feet, before taking care of the orange gem that was behind her. She spinned rapidly and sliced low. Orange Pearl was doing all she could, ducking and blocking every attack from her enemy, but unfortunely for her, Proxima's attacks started to pay off.

It was not long before Midnight kicked her in the chest. As Orange Pearl tumbled away, Spinel was all Proxima had to deal with. The pink gem stood up from the ground she was fell on after Midnight pushed her off, and extended her hand towards her scythe but the child of Thanos quickly made sure that she wasn't going to wield it for the rest of the fight. The child of Thanos made sure that Spinel wasn't going to have anything to defend herself and began to send powerful blows right at her face with her free hand. Spinel was taking each of them down, trying to extend her hands to stop her but all of those attempts didn't had any effect on Midnight. She proceeded to punch Spinel until the pink gem eventually collapsed on the ground.

Azurite who was down for most of the time since Spinel, Orange Pearl and Centi joined his fight with Proxima was cursing under his breath for everything that just happened. Cursing Proxima, and more importantly himself for letting the anger, rage and hatred he felt for this woman take the full control of him which resulted in him getting easily beaten by her. He quickly looked around and saw his hooks which haven't been used by him since he joined this battle after arriving with Thor. Both of the were laying on the ground. Knowing that Proxima's focus wasn't on him now, he used this as an ocassion to take her by suprise. He quickly picked it up and when Proxima who was about to land a finishing blow on Spinel, stabbed her in the probably only area that didn't had any breastplate on, but it wasn't the only thing he did to her. He placed his hand on her neck, slicing along with it with his claws. badly wounding it. Midnight gasped for a breath as she grabbed her bleeding throat, her dark blood painting her hands.

Spinel knew that it was her chance to do something. She saw Midnight drop her sword at the sudden damage she took from Azurite. She quickly picked it up and stabbed her right in the stomach with it, penetrating her breastplate, finishing her off. Blood began to pour from Midnight's mouth, before Azurite threw her now lifeless body aside.

Before Spinel could say anything to him, he hugged her laying body, and said, "You're okay... you're okay." He repeated those words a few times, before saying, "She didn't took you from me just like she did with Aleena."

Spinel, at first a bit suprise by the hug, gave him a few quick pats on the back, before saying to him, "Hey, I'm not going anywhere, Azzie. You don't have to worry about that."

Azurite lifted his head up from her chest and smiled at her.

Spinel returned the smile.

"Oh my stars... She almost got all of us, and you wanted to fight with her alone?" Orange Pearl asked him, standing up from the ground, which was followed by Centi, Spinel and Azurite.

"I know that was foolish of me? It just, when I saw her, I saw her separating me from Aleena, and I let the anger take control of me." Azurite said, letting his head down in shame.

Spinel put her hand on his arm, "It's alright, Azzie. Now this isn't what we have to worry about."

"You're right." Azurite said with a nod of his head, as Spinel extended her hand to pick up her scythe which was laying a few metres away from them.

"There's one problem here. I'm going to need a new weapon. My spear is not in a good condition." Centi said, gesturing towards her broken spear.

An idea immediately popped in Azurite's mind. He picked up Proxima's sword and handed it to Centi, "Take it. This bitch doesn't need it anymore."

Centi eyed the sword for a second, before saying, "Let's go."

With that, all four of them rushed back into the battle.

Falcon was still flying across the fields of Wakanda, unloading everything he had onto the invaders when he saw something. It was just moments before he saw something. There were two figured failling down the the window to fall many metres down the face of Mount Bashenga. He recognized one of these figures. It was the Vision. Someone was close to him! Close to the Mind Stone!

''Guys, we got a Vision situation here.'' He informed his fellow Avengers, before an Outrider jumped on him, causing him to fall on the ground.

''Somebody get to Vision!" Captain America shouted, slamming down one Outrider, as Steven who was not leaving his side was taking care of everything that came in his way with his shield, or the bubble on his other fist.

"We got him!" Bruce Banner shouted, flying towards the current location of the Vision with Bismuth on his back.

Unaware that his beloved one was dead, Corvus Glaive kicked the Vision, knocking him down. As he attempted to rise again, Cull Obsidian showed up and swung his hammer in a full arc, throwing Vision even further. He painfully started to climb to his feet again when a whooshing overhead interrupts the fight as Bruce Banner landed the Hulkbuster between the aliens and the android. He took a defensive stance, pointing one hand's repulsor at each, similiar thing with Bismuth with both of her hands that were still turned into sharp weapons.

"Oh no, oh no you don't. This isn't going to be like New York, pal. This suit's already kicked the crap out of the Hulk..." Banner didn't had a chance to finish as Cull Obsidian jumped forward. The member of the Black Order grabbed Bruce's right arm, and Bismuth's left arm. Banner in reflex grabbed Obsidian's hammer as a jet fired, taking all three of them in a random direction, to the base of a waterfall.

"Guys! Vision needs backup now_!"_ He shouted to through his earpiece, he and Bismuth getting themselves back on their feet. Unfortunely, Cull Obsidian was faster than both of them and Bismuth saw how Obsidian pulled the Hulkbuster up and kicked it in the back. Inside of the suit, Banner was trying to change into the Hulk while fighting Cull Obsidian was basically rippng the Hulkbuster apart, "Hulk, I know you like making your entrance at the last second, well, this is it, man. This is the last, last second." He extended his left hand protectively as Obsidian grabbed the armor's hand, chopped the shoulder joint with a relatively small axe then does a roll over Bruce's back to leverage snapping off the Hulkbuster's whole arm and knocking Bruce away from him.

Bismuth came in Banner's rescue. She jumped in the distance between these two and swung her sharpened blades which still replacing her hands in the direction of the largest member of the Black Order. Much to her suprise, a shield, simply out of nowhere appeared right before her. She tried two more times to do something to it, but she couldn't. This shield was basically impenetrable to her blades. She jumped back as Obsidian swung his shield, thinking that it was going to go for her, but instead, he slammed it upon the earth where she stood. Dozens of rocks flew right into her face. Bismuth covered her eyes with her now normal hands, shielding her eyes them from the rocks, unable to shield anything else as Cull ripped his own shield out of the ground and drove it across her face. Bismuth screamed as she flew across the field, landing against a rock. Obsidian's shield disappeared back into his wrist as he lanched himself at her, ready to bury his fist in her gem but was instead met with a brown shield with several sharp things coming out of it.

"Need a shield?" Biggs Jasper asked her friend, turning her head to her for a second, "I saw this guy use it on you."

"Biggs?" Bismuth asked, looking at Biggs in suprise, not excepting to see her, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard there was a problem and saw you flying on this guys back so I came." Biggs explained.

Bismuth got herself back on her feet, "I'm glad you did."

"Good." Biggs sent her a quick smile as one of Bismuth's hands turned into a hammer and Biggs' shield went back to her gem, before taking out a sword, "Let's finish him off."

Cull Obsidian roared, a large blade unsheathing on the same wrist as his shield. He and the two gems charged at each other, the first one snarling like a best at his two opponents. Biggs Jasper roared as she swung her sword at him, a roar that was silenced as her attack was blocked by the Obsidian. It was followed up by another, then another, and again and again, until she sword was knocked away from her hand, sending it away from her. He grabbed her by her neck and began onloading his anger at her, pushing her deeper and deeper into the nearest rock, before he felt Bismuth punch him in the back with her hammer-like hand.

Cull grunted in pain as he turned back to her, taking his attention away from Biggs for a second. His expression he sent her was saying one thing. He was done playing with them. He pulled her up and kicked her in the back. Bismuth tried to free herself from her graps so she could try to attack him again, but she was too strong for her. He threw her away from him into the rocks. Then his attention went back to Biggs who was taking her last thing to defend herself, her shield out of her gem, but unfortunely he was faster than her and threw her away into the same rocks as Bismuth. The two gem laid on the ground, defeated with Obsidian heading in their way with the intention of finishing both of them, but suddenly the two gems and the member of the Black Order heard Banner scream to himself, "Oh screw you, you big green asshole! I'll do it myself!"

The two gems watched as Banner charged the member of the Black Order, jumping into the air and delivering an effective punch with his remaining hand. Unfortunely that blow was caught by Obsidian, who punched back, knocking Bruce flat. Obsidian changed his left hand armor into a pointed weapon, and lunged forward to deliver fatal blow into the Avenger's chest, but before that could happen, Bruce grabbed the detached Hulkbuster arm out of the water, holding it so Obsidian impaled that instead, and slapped the controls.

"See ya!" Banner said as the repulsors fired, taking Cull Obsidian high into the air, high enough, in fact, to intersect the defense dome. The Hulkbuster arm dragged Obsidian against the field to grotesque destructive effect, ending in a very final explosion, "Hulk, we got a lot to figure out, pal."

"Is he?" Bismuth asked, standing up from the ground, wanting to be sure if Cull Obsidian meet his demise or not.

"I think so." Banner said as he looked down at Bismuth and Biggs, "You two alright?"

"Did you knew that it was going to sent him flying?" Bismuth asked the Avenger, with Biggs nodding her head in agreement.

"No." Banner shook his head.

"Then we got lucky, real lucky, without it he'd easily have us." Biggs stated, now understanding why Azurite considered the Black Order to be as dangerous as Thanos.

As Vision was struggling to get up, Corvus Glaive who was still on his trail lifted him up by his neck to his eye level, thrusting his glaive into his body just a second after, "I thought you were a formidable machine, but you're dying just like any other man."

The member of the Black Order pulled his glaive out, as Vision collapsed on the ground, wincing in pain. He reached down, ready to grab the Infinity Stone out of the android's forehead, but was interrupted when Steven threw a shield knocking him away from him the Vision.

"Get out of here!" Captain America shouted to the android, charging at the last member of the Black Order.

"We got this!" Steven added, his shield going back to his fist, running towards Corvus.

Steven was the first to make his stand against Corvus Glaive. He was blocking Corvus's every attack with his shield, eventually trying to sent a blow at the alien with his bubbled fist, and it paid off as he drove his past forward, punching Corvus in the stomach. The alien took a few step backwards, but it overall didn't do any serious damage to him.

Corvus glared at the gem-human hybrid, making his way back to him, an idea how to take out Steven appearing in his mind. He swung his glaive at him a few times, all of his attacks were of course blocked by Steven, but what Steven didn't except from Corvus was that his next attack was going to be headed towards his legs. The member of the Black Order took out his leg, causing him to fall down on the ground. With Steven on the ground, Corvus had more chance to take care of it. He brought him glaive down, with the edge of it being blocked by Steven's shield. He gritted his teeth, a glare not leaving his face as he pushed the glaive down at the gem-human hybrid. Steven gasped in shock as his shield was finally penetrated by Corvus' Glaive's weapon, the edge of it going through a small a hole in it. He struggle to hold it, as a smirk grew on Corvus' face, knowing that it was just a matter of time before Steven's shield will finally be fully penetrated by his weapon.

It was when Captain America finally made his move. He slammed his body against Corvus', pushing him away from Steven. He blocked the swing from his glaive, driving his fist forward and punching Corvus in the forehead. The alien stumbled backwards and giving Steve all the room he needed. Shaking his head to regain as much sense as possible at this moment, Corvus reacted quickly and raised his glaive to block the kick from the first Avenger.

Steve flipped through the air, his right leg heading toward Corvus as he swung it fiercely down, right down the weapon Corvus wielded. It fell a few feet away from them, Corvus gazing towards his weapon, knowing that he may not have the time not to pick it up as Captain America swung his fist at him. His punch was caught by Corvus, the last Black Order member's right fist striked Rogers right on his chin. The punch was strong enough that it would surely kill any normal man in the matter of a seconds, but for Steven, it was just another punch, leaving just a drop of blood from his bottom lip.

It may have been a normal punch for Captain that would surely kill him if he was a normal human, but it didn't change the fact that it was a very strong one. Steve fell on his back from the force of the punch. Just as he was about to stand up from the ground, Steve caught his breath as Corvus' hand grabbed his throat, tightening with each second, taking all the source of the air from the first Avneger and earning several gasps for air. Rogers tried to break free from Corvus' grasp, but was unable to break the grip. Glaive narrowed his glare, tightened his wrist, and pushed further and further until...

He gasped as he felt his body penetrated by his own glaive. Blood began to pour from his mouth as the Vision raised his lifeless body in the air, before tossing it aside, along with the glaive.

'We told you to leave." Captain America said to Vision, who was helping him to get up.

"We don't trade lives, captain." Vision stated, before glancing over at Steven who had joined them by Cap's other side, "Of anyone."

Steven gave the android a small smile, before helping him to get Cap up.

* * *

The situation on Titan wasn't getting any better. Lapis was still covering herself, Peridot and Jasper from everything that was falling from the sky as the unconscious Guardians wereflying upwards uncontrollably.

Spider-Man was well-equipped to handle this physically, even if he was freaking out emotionally. He began to fire his web at the Guardians, trying to catch them, "I got you! I got you! I'm sorry I can't remember anybody's names!"

The Cloak of Levitation set Doctor Strange down on a stable outcrop as Thanos freed himself from rubble. The Sorcerer Supreme made a few gestures with his hands, making golden magic circles, and slammed his hands down on the rock in front of him, invoking the Seven Suns of Cinnibus as a lightning-like effect of immense heat jumping from rock to rock until it reached Thanos, sending him flying, but he used gravity to keep control and fire back a blast from the Power Stone.

Doctor Strange blocked the purple energy with a wall, which he then pushes back at Thanos. It went around the Titan, who sucked the magic and formed a small black hole with the Space Stone, firing it back at Doctor Strange. Just in time, Doctor Strange raised a shield and changed the dark energy into a swarm of aqua butterflies which return to their master.

Lapis, Peridot and Jasper were watching the fight between these two in awe. Even the Diamonds would be impressed by what they were just seeing.

Before Thanos could counterattack again, Doctor Strange levitated and began to move his hands in a strange way, before dozens of his replications rush away, forming a circular wall around a the Mad Titan. They casted magical cords, wrapping them around Thanos' entire body. He struggled to close his gauntleted fist, and used the Soul and Power Stones to discover the real Doctor Strange among the many copies of the sorcener, blowing the copies away and sending the real Doctor Strange down. Reality and Space pulled Strange forward, Thanos grasping him by the throat.

"You're full of tricks, wizard." The Mad Titan stated,

As the Mad Titan reached for the Time Stone, Strange shouted, "No!_"_

Thanos pulled the Time Stone off it's chains, _"_Yet you never once used your greatest weapon." He crushed it with his hand, "A fake.

As he threw Doctor Strange hard enough that his head hit stone, casing him to pass out, the gems knew they had to do something. Doctor Strange was just defeated by Thanos and it was just a matter of time before the Titan would get the stone from the sorcener.

Lapis was the first to make her move, removing the water shield from her, Jasper and Peridot and flied over to the Mad Titan, and faced him, standing between him and Strange.

"A Lapis Lazuli? I thought you were supposed to be destroying planets." Thanos stated, the second after Lapis landed before him.

"You're the one who's been wiping out half of the populations of the planets, and now wants to do it in the universal scale." Lapis pointed out, glaring at him.

"It is just a small price to pay for salvation." Thanos told her.

Lapis said nothing in response, with her glare not leaving her face. She slighty extended her hand forward and grabbed the Mad Titan by his hands, trapping him. She knew it wasn't going to last long because she already tried this trick on him but it was just to give her more time to attack. She extended both of her arms forward herself, forming a giant sharp thing with water and pushed it at Thanos. It was going to work, it had to work, with this planet not having any water, it was the only thing that came into her mind.

She could feel her eyes opening in shock as It flied. Flied right through his body and he just stood there as if nothing happened. It wasn't supposed to go like that. It was supposed to cut him in the half. Even the two Lapis Lazuli's she and Steven came across about two months before all of this were cutting hills in the half with this trick, and it would surely kill a normal alive being without the victim of this trick realizing what happened to him, or her, but the Mad Titan was just standing there, not even touched by it.

Growing, even more desperate, and running out of options, Lapis brought her hands together, forming a beam of water and fired at Thanos. The Titan absorbed her attack with his gauntlet, until he began to fire it back at her, the Reality Stone glowed, turning it into fire. Lapis could feel herself taking a step, or two back as she was doing all she could to hold it back. The two of them just stood there, Lapis water beam and Thanos' fire beam going against each other. The edges of it touching themselves somewhere in the middle, each absorbing one another, until Thanos' fire beam began to move forward. It sucked everything that was made by Lapis until it eventually reached the blue gem.

Lapis' last sight before getting thrown away was a piece of metal heading towards the Mad Titan. Peridot was pushing every piece of metal that came into her view at Thanos, even though it was doing nothing to him. She saw his gauntlet glew red as her disc was suddenly turned into bubbles, causing her to fall on the ground. She looked up from the ground and saw Thanos approaching her, with fear growing in her eyes as Jasper jumped right between them.

"I'm done playing with you." She said to the Titan, glaring at him.

"Done?" Thanos asked her.

Jasper growled as she rushed at the Titan. She punched him in his torso, over and over again, giving all the strength she had in her blows. Thanos was stumbling back as Jasper began to smirk, thinking that she may have him. She pushed him against a huge rock, pushing it deeper and deeper into it, until something that took her off her caught happened. Thanos was prying her hands.

Using the fact that she was taken off the guard by it, even though he was basically throwing him just a second ago, Thanos knew that it was a perfect moment to finally strike back at her. He punched him in the neck, as she took a step back after receiving the punch. As she clenched her neck, it was when Thanos fully unloaded on her. Every blow was so strong, Jasper was stumbling back further and further with each punch from the Mad Titan. Peridot watched in shock how one of the strongest gems she met in her entire life was tossed around like a ragdoll by Thanos, until he lifted her up above his head and threw her away.

Just a moment after being tossed into the air, Jasper suddenly could feel herself being held up in the air, before being gently set down on the ground. She glanced over at Peridot and saw her, holding her arm out.

Thanos saw it as well, his gauntlet sending a wave of energy, throwing the green gem away from him and Jasper.

The tall orange gem was ready to fight with him again, despise the good beating she got from him just a moment ago. She began to glow as she formed herself into a ball and rolled herself at Thanos, using her powerful charge. After hitting him with her charge, she looked up, excepting and hoping to see Thanos thrown away by it, but much to her suprise, Thanos stood there, as he wasn't just hit by her. Getting off her suprise rather quickly, she raised her fist and was about to punch him again, but her fist was caught by opponent, before the Titan headbutted her. The hit was so strong that it made her fall away a few metres away from him.

"I like you." Thanos said, admiring how determined this gem was to defeat him.

Jasper didn't react to that, she just got herself back onto her feet again and tried to make her stand against him, once again. Being more desperate than ever, she began to form herself into a glowing ball again and charged at Thanos, hoping that it will do something him, but it was when it seemed like The Titan was done with playing with her. His gauntlet glowed purple and a wave of energy sent Jasper flying across the field, eventually hitting a Shi'ra ship that happened to be standing on her way. The impact was so hard that sent the ship flying along with her for several more metres before she finally stopped. The impact of the landing was so strong that it broke her helmet and destroyed a rather good of her roommates ship.

It was when she finally realized that they weren't strong enough to beat him,

It was when she realized that she wasn't strong enough to beat him.

After watching how Jasper literally flew away from him, The Titan saw Iron Man's device into his hand with the gauntlet, bracing the fingers open, and an Avenger in the iron suit landed in front of him.

''You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna to lose it." Tony said, sounding like he was done with the Titan.

"Stark." Thanos simply said.

"You know me?" Tony asked him.

"I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge." Thanos stated.

''My only curse is _you_." Tony told him as small rockets popped out of his back and went at Thanos.

All of the the rockets exploded on the Titan, momentarily covering him in smoke. Before it cleared off, Iron Man flied into Thanos, using his single super-jet boot configuration. As he bounced off, he flipped and sticked his landing, immediately re-configuring his boots into ground clamps for stability and his gloves into rocket-driven battering rams, punching Thanos into a ruined wall behind him.

Thanos who shook it off quickly, reached forward and tore Iron Man's helmet off, revealing the Avengers' surprised expression before the suit recovered automatically and re-formed helmet. The Titan made use of it and punched himhard, sending Iron Man sliding away, giving himtime to rip the device off his gauntlet. He instantly used the Power Stone to fire energy at his opponent, who formed a shield to hide behind just as quickly, getting pushed back even further by the powerful force.

Iron Man went out from behind the shield, letting the energy push him away for a faster start, and flied back to Thanos full thrusters. He kicked at the Titan with his left foot, turning the boot into a ground clamp at the same time to pin the gauntlet, and kept twisting while his left glove became a ram again, slamming into the Mad Titan's face, cutting his cheek.

The Mad Titan touched his cheek, before glancing down at his bloodied finger, "All that for a drop of blood."

He smiled as punched Iron Man, then started beating him with his fists. Iron Man attempted to block the blows with his forearms, but Thanos was unstoppable, picking him up by the helmet and blasting some of it with the Power Stone. The gaps coverage were gaping, as the armor losed it's ability to recover from the the damage it was receiving. Iron Man landed from the blast, and was struggling to get himself up to one knee and fired his right hand repulsor at Thanos. The beam was easily deflected by the gauntlet. He got to both feet as the suit tried to complete repairs, adding the beam from his left hand as well. Thanos walked right up to him, and backhandeed the incompleted helmet completely off Tony's head. He crossed his arms to block a blow from Thanos' gauntlet, and his left hand was caught over his head. In desperation, he formed what's left of his right glove into a short-sword, which is also easily caught by Thanos, snapping it off and driving it through Tony's left side.

The fight was over.

Thanos walked to Tony back as he sat up, placing the gauntlet on his head.

"You have my respect Stark, but when I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive." The Titan told the Avenger in a respectful tone, letting go off him. He stepped back as he added, "I hope they remember you."

He raised his gauntlet, closing his fist as all four stones were glowing, ready to end Tony's life.

"Stop!" Strange' voice suddenly sounded in the ears, as they both turned in his direction, "Spare his life! And will give you the stone!"

''No tricks." Thanos said to Strange, turning himself to him, now pointing all four stones at him, as Strange shook his head.

"Don't!" Tony shouted to Strange, shaking his head, telling him to not give the Mad Titan another stone.

Doctor Strange reached and took the Time Stone out of its hiding place in the stars. He opened his hand, the scars on his fingers and their inherent trembling particularly obvious now, and the Stone floated to Thanos' bare hand. Doctor Strange watched him intently, as he took the Stone and drops it into the thumb setting, the energy pulse making the Titan wince.

"...One to go." He said, looking over at his gauntlet, forming a portal behind him as Jasper who had gotten herself back on her feet threw a huge piece of metal that was lying nearby, hoping that it'll stop him from entering the portal, but it didn't. Lapis also tried to stop him from entering the portal by sending a huge wave of water at him, but the only thing it managed to do hit was the piece that Jasper just threw, cutting it on the half once it flew through the wave.

Peter Quill also tried to stop him from entering the portal. He was firing from his blaster as he was flying towards the Mad Titan as fast as he could, but his attempts were as unsuccessful as Lapis' and Jasper's.

"Where is he?" Lapis asked, not excepting to get the answer from anyone.

"Did we just lose?" Quill asked as he clicked his mask off his face, revealing a horrified look on his face.

"You just doomed us all!" Jasper shouted, pointing angrily at Strange.

"Why would you give him that stone?" Lapis asked in complete disbelief, landing a few metres away from him.

"Why would you do that?" Tony asked, being in complete disbelief, just like Lapis.

"We're in the endgame now..." was Doctor Strange's reply to their questions.

* * *

The situation in Wakanda was finally going in the benefit of the heroes because with the Black Order dead there was no one to lead the Mad Titan's forces. The last waves of the Outriders were being taken down while Thor chased one back into the pyramids and destroyed it. He flew into the air and destroyed all of them.

Wanda landed next to Vision and as he started screaming, "Are you okay? What is it?"

Vision franctically looked around, "He's here."

All of the humans and gems there noticed it. Some of them even shivered at the feeling.

"Do you guys feel that too?" Amethyst asked, looking up at the sky, feeling that strange sensation in her body.

"Everyone on my position. We have incoming." Steve informed everyone.

"What the hell..." Natasha said, looking around. Falcon was standing right behind her.

"He's coming. I can feel it." Garnet stated as the gems readied themselves for the confrotation. The Mad Titan was coming.

Azurite turned around and saw a portal opening, and out stepped The Mad Titan himself. He glared at him, before confirming who this came out of the portal to everyone, "Guys. That's him."

"He already has five of them..." Orange Pearl said, with fear growing on her facial features, looking at the five Infinity Stones in Thanos' gauntlet.

"Lapis, Peridot, Jasper..." Steven said, realizing that three gems they sent to retrieve the Reality Stone failed.

"They failed." Spinel stated, letting her head down, but she knew that there no time to mourn. Thanos was here with five Infinity Stones. They had to keep him away from the Mind Stone at all cost.

"Eyes up! Stay sharp!" Captain America told everyone as he started moving in the direction of the Mad Titan.

Bruce Banner in the Hulkbuster suit was the first one to make his move. He flew towards Thanos, as the gauntlet glowed blue. He flew right through Thanos into the nearest cliff and was melted into it, effectivaly trapping him in it.

Captain America was the next one in the line. Thanos threw him through the air and down to the ground.

Black Panther leaped up at Thanos, before he caught him by his throat. He punched him with his free hand into the ground.

Azurite, Spinel and Orange Pearl charged at the Mad Titan, all of them intending to protect the Mind Stone with their lives. Azurite leaped up at Thanos, but was caught by his neck by his other hand as Orange Pearl and Spinel weren't even able to reach him as the Power Stone glowed purple, and a wave of energy was sent at them, which sent all two of them flying across the field. Azurite could only watch them fly away from them.

As Azurite was struggling to break himself free, trying to scratch the Mad Titan with his claws, without any effect, he eventually managed to say with a glare that would burn an entire forest, "**You'll never win...**"

Thanos just smiled at him in response before he threw Azurite away with his body landing just a few inches away from Spinel's.

Sam Wilson unloaded his last magazines directly into The Mad Titan as he flew towards him, screaming every moment as he did so. Thanos destroyed his wings with the Power Stone, causing him to fall on the ground, landing before him.

"Wanda... It's time..." Vision said to Wanda.

"No." Wanda shook of her head.

"They can't stop him, he's too powerful, but we can." Vision continued, making her listen, "Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone."

"Don't." Wanda looked back at Thanos.

"You must do it, Wanda." Vision was now practically begging her, "We are out of time."

Wanda shook her head, "I can't."

"You can." Vision aligned her hand to his hand, "If he gets the stone half of the universe dies. It's not fair. It should be you but it is. It's all right. You could never hurt me. I just feel you..."

Scarlet Witch teared up as she extended a trembling hand and started beaming her energy at the Mind Stone.

War Machine was unloading everything he had on Thanos, but it didn't do any demage to the Mad Titan. The Mad Titan just used one of the stones to crush his suit, before throwing him on the ground.

Connie glared at the Mad Titan as Lion growled. She quickly leaped herself up at him with her sword raised in the air. He froze her in the air , before grabbing her by her hand and throwing her out of his way, into the nearby trees. The Infinity Gauntlet then glowed purple and a wave of energy sent Lion away from him.

Centi along with her crew and at least a dozen of gems from Little Homeworld tried to make their stand against Thanos, in order to protect the Mind Stone, even if it would cost their lives,. Snowflake Obsidian formed a wall of ice, hoping that it'll give more time but her wall just a second after by the power of the Reality Stone, then the Titan used the same stone to froze all of them in place. Thanos walked past them, as if they didn't even existed.

Bucky and Rocket roared, as they charged at him, holding the trigger and unloading everything they had onto Thanos, who knocked them away with the Power Stone.

Shi'ra, Pearl, Amethyst, Okoye and Black Widow were the next. Shi'ra roared as she had her spear in ready as her plasma caster was aiming itself at Thanos as Pearl and Okoye threw their spears at Thanos, who froze it before his chest, before knocking Pearl, Amethyst and Okoye away. With Reality Stone, he trapped Natasha and Shi'ra under slabs of stone.

Amethyst and Pearl landed right before Garnet's, Bismuth's and Biggs Jasper's feet, who were the next ones between the Mind Stone and Thanos. Bismuth and Biggs nodded their heads at Garnet, as they charged at Thanos, knowing exactly what Garnet was going to do as Garnet helped to get Pearl and Amethyst back on their feet. The three gems looked how Bismuth and Biggs were sent away by the power of one of one of the Infinity Stones without even reaching the Mad Titan. All three of them shared a quick look with each toher before they fused themselves into Alexandrite. A huge fusion roared before charging at the Mad Titan, but a moment later, he froze her in the place with the Time Stone. A look of confusion and shock grew on her face, before Thanos caused her to unfuse into Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst, who still couldn't move. Thanos walked right past them, as he used the Power Stone, sending all of them flying in different directions.

Groot fed his arms into the ground and tried to entrap him. Thanos broke free and continued to walk towards Wanda and Vision.

Steven, knowing that he was probably one of the last, if not the last person in the line to defend the Mind Stone, threw his shield at Thanos, which returned to him a moment after. He was threw it again, but Thanos used the Time Stone, stopping the shield right before his body, causing it to vanish with the power of the Reality Stone a moment after. Then, then gauntlet glowed purple and a wave of energy was sent towards Steven who instantly formed a bubble around him. The bubble saved Steven from being thrown away. He quickly made it disappear and summoned two bubbles which appeared on his fists. He charged at Thanos, but only managed to land one or two blows at the Mad Titian, who grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up until their eyes met. They stared in each other eyes, and it seemed like Thanos was going to say something to him, but then Thanos saw the progress Wanda was making with destroying the Mind Stone, and threw him away into the trees.

Wanda watched all of them fall down one by one over shoulder, and turned back to Vision to add her left hand to her tearful effort.

However, Steven wasn't the last one in the line to defend the Mind Stone. Steve Rogers was. He slided under one blow and came up swinging his deployed arm-shields, punching Thanos in the gut and chin. He grabbed the gauntlet, keeping Thanos' fingers un-clenched. Confusion grew on the Mad Titan's facial features until it was turned into an annoyed frown. He narrowed his frown to the Avenger holding his gauntlet, holding his strength far greater than any other. Steve Rogers screamed as he somehow still held against the one of the strongest beings in the universe. Fought against the greatest threat. Stood against Thanos. The Mad Titan finally had enough of it, punching Captain America right into his face. Steve laid on the ground, his body no longer moving, no longer being in the Titan's path..

Wanda looked over her shoulder again and saw Thanos approaching them. She swung her left hand around to fend him off with a stream of scarlet energy, and pushed him back despite his blue-purple energy shield, but then he started slowly to make his way to them.

''It's alright. It's alright." Vision kept assuring his beloved one that everything was alright, _"I love you._"

After those words, the Mind Stone finally started to crack. An expression of joyful peace overcame Vision's face, and as the crystal fragments completely, a pulse of pure yellow energy exploded from him, shuddering the trees for many meters around his epicenter.

Thanos walked closer to Wanda and looked down at her, "I understand, my child. Better than anyone."

"You could never..." Wanda looked up at him, glaring.

"Today I lost more than you could know." Thanos rubbed her head, "But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all."

The Mad Titan reached forward, clenching the gauntlet, emerald filigree surrounding his wrist, making a strange gesture. In response, a bead of yellow light startedgathering in on itself as time is reversed and growing in size, solidifying into an intact and conscious Vision, bringing him and the Stone back to life.

"No!" Wanda shouted in pure horror as Thanos slapped her, sending her away from him.

Vision's ressurection was short lived. Thanos picked him up by his throat, lifting him to eye-level, and dug the fingers of his right hand into Vision's forehead, taking the Mind Stone out of his body. He pulled it loose, and Vision's now lifeless body went limp and colorless; he tossed the lifeless android aside like trash. Bringing his hand up, he slowly moved the Mind Stone over the last empty setting, and dropped it in. The energy surge was much more than any previous he had acquired today.

When the energy stopped going across his body, he looked over at his gauntlet.

All of the Infinity Stones were shining in his gauntlet. It was completed...

Finally...

As Thanos studied the completed gauntlet, a massive bolt of lighting striked him, digging him into the ground and grinding him back for meters. Thor has arrived, eyes glowing with power, stooping down from the sky like a bird of prey. The God of Thunder paused his attack, reversedhis position, raised Stormbreaker above his head and hurled it. Thanos fired the whole might of the gauntlet against it, but it only creates a rainbow-like bow-shock, not slowing the axe as it slammed right into Thanos' chest.

"I told you. You'll die for that!" Thor growled, pushing his axe deeper into Thanos' chest who screamed in pain.

"You should've... You should've..." Thanos was struggling to speak until after a few tries finally found the strength to say it, "_You should've gone for the head..._"

Thor looked at Thanos' Infinity's Gauntlet, and saw him lower his middle finger to connect with his thumb and press it.

His eyes burst open, "**NO!**"

SNAP!

* * *

**Well, it happened...**

**Who do you think is going to get dusted?**

**I know that the fight scenes are not the best, but I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. That's a shame that Ebony Maw was killed off so quickly, and Supergiant (She's the fifth Black Order member in the comics) didn't appeared in both of the movies, because I'd love to write them fight our heroes as well.**

**And holy crap (falls from my chair from exhaustion)... this was probably the longest chapter I've ever wrote, now I'm afraid how long is going to be battle in Endgame...**

**Anyway, hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.**


	22. Grateful Universe

When Thanos opened his eyes, he found himself to be standing on an endless sea, looking at the water before him.

This water was everywhere. It was burning brighter than any form of light Thanos had ever experienced in his long life, but it wasn't causing any form harm to him. The clouds on the sky were like a orange fog. The sea he stood on rippled under his boots, the mix of crimson and orange was spreading further. The world in which he found himself in was limitless and completely empty of any form of life.

The Titan caught his breath, when he turned his look to his left hand and seeing it bare. There was no gauntlet. There was no stones. The pain he felt was gone after he snapped his fingers, every wound on him was healed and he actually felt like a new person now, the damage that was done by the gauntlet was gone. But when he lowered his left hand, glanced to what lied behind it, that pain returned.

A lone structure stood in the world of endless water. He narrowed his eyes. He had seen that structure before, and he especially remembered the figure standing before it. Completely alone, no one was by this persons side. It was a young girl, standing with her back facing him. He stopped at the view of her, looking at the red locks of her hair. Thanos nearly quivered where he stood, as tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks.

"Daughter." He finally called over to her.

The little girl began to turn around to the sound of his voice calling over to her, and when she finally did, if he had any second thoughts about who this person was, they all went away, disappeared, faded away. It was Gamora, his little Gamora, as young as she was one the day where he came across her during one of his cleansings, where he saved her.

"...Did you do it?" She asked him after a moment of staring at her father.

"Yes." He answered, giving a small, very small nod in response.

"What did it cost?" Gamora asked him another question.

"Everything." He responded, dropping his head.

"Was it worth it?" She asked him with a small pause, "...Father?"

She got no answer from him, he just lifted his head and stared at her in silence. Neither of them said anything. They just kept looking at each other.

* * *

"What did you do!?" Thor demanded to know, glancing from Thanos' arm at him, "**What did you do!?**"

Thanos said nothing, as he used the Space Stone to form a portal behind him and leave Wakanda, getting Stormbreaker off his chest as Thor just stood there, having no idea what Thanos had just done.

"Where is he?" Steven asked, approaching Thor with Captain America.

"Thor. Where did he go?" Cap added.

"Steve..." Steve, Steven and Thor, all three of them turned to the source of the voice and saw Bucky. They all stared at him in shock mixed with confusion when they saw his hand disintegrating into ash, before it consumed his whole body. Bucky's ashes fell on the ground and his rifle was the only thing left of him. Steve slowly walked over to his best friends ashes and touched them, as the realization of what was just happening came into his mind. He looked up at Thor and Steven who were staring in horror at what just happened to Bucky.

"Steven. What is this?" Steven could feel how his heart almost stopped when he heard Connie, already fearing the worst. Fearing that she may share the same fate as the Winter Soldier. His worries became true when he turned to Connie and saw her right hand disintegrating into dust, as she was staring at it with a confused expression on her face.

"Connie..." He said as he began to run towards her, but all he caught of her were her ashes. Steven could feel tears forming in his eyes, as he touched Connie's ashes. When he lifted his hand up, he could feel that some parts of Connie's ashes attached themselves to his hand, as he stared at it for a few seconds, before he heard.

"Steven! You're here!" It was Pearl. He could easily that she was relieved to see him, as she knelt down in front of him. She already saw how the people of Wakanda, and gems began turning into dust and she began to run across the fields of Wakanda to find anyone, Garnet, Amethyst or Steven, to see if they were okay, or not.

"Connie. She's..." He said to her, as he was now crying, looking down at Connie's ashes.

It was when Pearl realized over whose ashes Steven was kneeling. She put her hands over her mouth in shock, but could feel how a moment later, one of them turned into dust, which was soon followed by her entire body turning into dust as well. Pearl gave Steven one last smile. Smiled even though, with each second her body was breaking apart, the last thing she said to Steven was, "Don't worry. It's okay..."

Those were her last words before she shattered into ash, right in front of Steven's eyes, sharing the same fate as Bucky and Connie. He was now sobbing even more as he was forced to watch how his best friend and one of the gems that took care of him since he was little shattered into dust and there was nothing he could do to stop it. For the first time in his life, he lost someone he loved and he was powerless to stop it.

But then, he shot up onto his feet and began to run across the field. Garnet and Amethyst... He had to find them! They could have been still out there!

The first thing he saw after shooting up to his feet was the view of Blue Lace Agate. The gem from Little Homeworld was on her knees, as her body was breaking apart, "Steven? What is happe..." she said to him, extending her hand towards him. Her hand being the last thing of her that disintegrated, leaving nothing but ashes that floated away alongside the wind.

Steven brought his to cover his mouth. He saved her before. He saved her from corruption, but this time he was powerless to stop what happened to her.

"Up general up!" Black Panther said to Okoye, approaching her. He held his hand down to her, as she grabbed it a moment later, "This is no place to die."

As Black Panther began to lift her up from the ground, he shattered into nothing but ash. Okoye could only stare at it in horror mixed with confusion. She stood up from the ground by herself a moment later, and looked at the place where T'Challa used to stand just a moment ago.

She began to call out to him, but got no answer, much to her horror. She was seconds away from bursting into tears at this point. 

Bismuth heard her cries, but for now, didn't paid any attention to them, as she walked over to Garnet who was still on the ground. 

"C'mon, Garnet. Let me help you get up." She said, as she offered her hand to Garnet, both of them unaware of what was just happening. Bismuth helped the fusion to get back on her feet, and it just seconds away before she vanished from Garnet's sight, leaving nothing but ashes. She probably didn't even realized was going to happen to her before it was too late.

"Bismuth?" Garnet asked, but got no answer from her. Bismuth was gone. Her fellow Crystal Gem just vanished.

"Where is she?" Garnet turned to the source of the voice and saw Biggs Jasper staring at her before her eyes went to Bismuth's ashes. She wanted to know where her closest friend was, "Garnet. Where is she?"

"...Oh no..." Garnet said as she broke herself into run, without even answering to Biggs Jasper's question, "I need to find Steven, Pearl and Amethyst..."

Azurite and Spinel finally got themselves back on their feet. The duo shared a quick look with each other, making sure that they were okay, before they heard some gasps behind them. They turned around and saw how the captain of Rubies, Doc faded into dust, leaving Eyeball, Leggy, Army and Navy completely confused over what just happened to their captain. They both stared in complete shock at what just happened in front of their eyes, as their minds were trying to process what just happened to her.

However, their shock turned into sadness when they heard someone say to them, "Azurite... Spinel...What is happening to me?..."

They immediately recognized that voice. They both turned into the direction of that gem and saw Orange Pearl who was turning into dust. Half of her face was gone, the other half, half of the fear that consumed her before the dust consumed the rest. Every shred of her being faded alongside the wind, her fearful eyes no longer holding that terror.

"Oh my stars..." Spinel didn't know what to say.

"Orange..." Azurite said a moment after he watched how a Pearl that wanted to know how to fight just like him shattered into dust. A Pearl that he considered one of the closest friends he made in Little Homeworld.

"I am Groot..." They both heard someone say from their right side. They turned into the direction of that voice and saw Groot, who was turning into dust right before Rocket's eyes. Spinel couldn't understand what Groot just said, but Azurite could. He still couldn't understand most of things Groot said, but now he could because it was an easy word to translate.

It was dad.

Groot just called Rocket his dad...

"Oh, no, no..." Rocket kept repeating these words as he held his hand forward to Groot who tried to reach him, but he couldn't, because there was nothing but dust left of him just a second after, "Groot... no..."

"Oh, no... No... It can't be." Azurite said as the realization of what was happening just came into his mind. It was just like in the nightmare he had during his first night in Little Homeworld. He remembered that in this nightmare Groot turned into ash as well, before it was revealed that The Mad Titan got what he wanted.

He knew what was going on now.

Thanos won and now they were facing the effects of his snap.

His worst nightmare just became true...

"He did it..." Spinel realized what was happening too.

"We have to find the others..." Azurite said to Spinel who nodded her head, that it would probably broke her neck if she was a human. They began to move across the field, seeing how both gems and humans were fading into ash and their friends couldn't do nothing to save them.

Steven couldn't see Garnet and Amethyst anywhere as he proceeded to run across the fields of Wakanda, "Garnet! Amethyst!"

He saw Wanda Maximoff, kneeling over the body of the Vision, before turning into dust.

"_No, no, no, no, no..._" This word continued to fly through his head as he ran past dozens of human and gems turning into dust. Some of the gems he saw were the gem he knew from Little Homeworld or Homeworld. And then, relief hit him like a tidal wave when he saw Garnet running across the field. He ran over to her and grabbed her in the tighiest hug he's ever given.

"Garnet... Connie and Pearl are gone..." He said to her, embracing her as tightly as he could.

"Don't worry. I got you. Nothing is going to happen to you. We're going to find Amethyst and everything is going to be okay." Garnet said back to him as she embraced him even tighter. He was there with her. Nothing was going to happen to him. Nothing.

"Garnet..." Steven suddenly said with a small pause in the middle of the sentence. His voice suddenly became so weak, "I don't feel so good..."

The words that just left Steven's mouth were horrifying to Garnet. It was so bad that it made her unfuse into Ruby and Sapphire. They all saw how Steven's right leg faded into dust, which made him fall on the ground.

"Steven!" They both shouted at the same time, immediately falling on their knees, and clutching the fading teenager close to themselves.

"I don't want to go, guys... " Steven said as his body continued to break apart in front of their eyes.

"Don't worry." Sapphire tried to assure him that everything was going to be okay.

"Where am I going?..." Steven said as most of his body was gone by now.

"We're not gonna let you." Ruby added, even though she already knew that it was pointless.

''You're not going anywhere. We _have_ you, Steven. We're never letting go… Don't be scared… We're not letting go, Steven… We're not letting go." Sapphire added, holding what was left of Steven as tightly as she could.

"Tell my dad I l..." Steven couldn't finish this sentence as the last part of him faded away, leaving nothing but dust. Dust-covered hands of Ruby and Sapphire fell on the ground.

Azurite stared at what just transpired before him, a gasp leaving his mouth. Steven Universe, a teenager responsible for stopping the Diamonds just died right before his eyes in the arms of two gems who were like a family to him. And If he heard correctly, Pearl and that friend of his named Connie were also gone, and they were just one of the many people who were going to lost their life...

Another gasp, but this time more of a painful one left his mouth, when he looked at Spinel, and saw that she was gazing horrifically to her hand which was fading away into the air.

"Azzie..." She said to him as one of her legs faded away into the air, the ash slowly consuming her entire body.

"No, no, no, no... Please not you too..." Azurite said to his beloved gem as she fell into his arms, her teary eyes gazing at him.

"Don't worry, Azzie. It doesn't hurt." Spinel tried to cheer him up a bit, placing her remaining hand on his cheek as Azurite set her down on the ground, "It doesn't hurt."

"Spinel..." Azurite said to her. He wanted to say something to her. It was something he wanted to tell her for a while now, but was waiting for the right moment.

"Don't worry about me..." Spinel was still trying to cheer him up, as her hand faded, leaving dust on Azurite's cheek. She wanted to cheer him up one last time in her life.

"I love you..." Azurite told her. It was something he was trying to say to her for a while, now. He finally brought himself to say it to her, because it was probably the last ocassion he'd ever have to say it to her.

Spinel, or rather what was left of her was taken aback by his words, but eventually gave him one last smile, and it seemed like she was going to say something, but she didn't even had a chance, as the disintegration erased her completely. The only thing that was left of her was the necklace Azurite gave her on Christmas. He picked it up and held it close to himself, as he looked all around his body, hoping that it was going to happen to him as well. He didn't want to live in the world where his worst nightmare became true, but it never did.

"Azurite..." Shi'ra's voice rang through his ears, as he looked up and saw Shi'ra, standing before him, and nothing was happening to her... She was okay! His sister was okay!

"Shi'ra..." Was the only word that escaped his mouth, as he began to cry. Tears were streaming down his cheeks like a waterfall, experiencing loss of another person he loved in his life. A gem that was one of the people who helped him the most to open up again after what happened to Aleena, her dad and her mother.

Shi'ra saw how Spinel faded into dust a moment ago in Azurite's arms with her own eyes. She knew that her brother needed her now as much as he did after Konoritos. She knelt down in front of him, and hugged him as tightly as she could, letting him cry into her shoulder, "Don't worry. I'm here for you, brother. I'm here..."

"Guys! Guys!" Amethyst's voice sounded across the field as she and Lion ran over to Ruby and Sapphire, "What is going on? Why is everyone fading away?!"

"Amethyst..." Ruby barely brought herself to say this, her and Sapphire's eyes not leaving Steven's ashes, "Steven and Pearl are gone...''

Amethyst's eyes shot open at the revelation she got from Ruby, as she dropped her whip on the ground. She walked over to the two gems, and got herself on her knees. She touched what remained of Steven and stared at it for a good moment as she found herself breaking into tears. She lowered her hand before she embraced Ruby and Sapphire, all three gems crying over the loss of their family.

As Azurite, Shi'ra, Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst and Lion stood over the ashes of Spinel and Steven, a crowd of confused gems walked over to them. There was Centi along with Terra who was the the only one from her crew that didn't turn into dust, Little Larimar, Crazy Lace Agate, Bixbite, Orange Spodumene, Zebra Jasper, Eyeball, Army, Skinny Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Holly Blue Agate, and many others. All of them immediately noticed lack of Steven, Pearl, Bismuth, Connie and Spinel by their sides, and already assumed what happened to them.

"Guys! What is going? Most of my crew is gone!" Centi asked what was on the mind of every gem as they approached them, but they didn't got the answer the moment after Centi asked this question. Ruby, Sapphire and Amethyst were still sobbing uncontrollably over Steven's ashes, as Azurite was crying his eyes out into Shi'ra's shoulder.

Shi'ra took a deep breath, as she was stopping herself from bursting into tears as well. All she could say to them was, in a very shaky voice, "He did it... Thanos got exactly what he wanted. He won..."

It was when the realization hit all of the gems that survived. The expressions of loss, sadness, grief and anger appeared on their faces. Some of them broke into tears, Centi and Terra being one of them, some of them ran off somewhere, probably to take out their anger, some of them just sat down on the ground, trying to accept the fact that they lost, or some of them just remained where they stood, their minds trying to process what Shi'ra just told them.

Azurite's head eventually left Shi'ra's shoulder, as they shared a quick look with each other, before they looked around, to see who was also spared from Thanos' snap.

Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine, Bruce Banner, Okoye, Rocket, and many other Wakandan warriors.

Everyone else was gone...

All of the survivors stood in complete silence for a moment...

Until it was broke by Captain America. The only words that left his mouth were.

"Oh God..."

* * *

On Titan, everyone that tried to stop the Mad Titan collected themselves. Lapis helped Peridot to get up, the small green gem standing on the ground instead of her disc because it was gone, turned into bubbles. The two gems shared a quick look together, offering themselves nods, before turning their attention to Jasper. The large orange gem offering them a nod of her own, telling them that everything was okay with her, minus the broken helmet and the fact that she destroyed Shi'ra's ship. Star-Lord helped Mantis, keeping her close to himself, Spider-Man helped Tony to his feet, Drax and Nebula managed to rise up on their own.

Mantis suddenly looked up, with horror growing on her facial features as she said, nervously, "Something is happening..."

It was the last she said before shattering into ash before their eyes...

Nebula, Tony, Jasper, and nearly everyone else held their breath as she broke apart, her body turning to dust. It happened out of nowhere. It was even worse for her fellow Guardians, Quill simply watching as Mantis faded from his side, the dust dissolving away from Star-Lord, some parts of it covering his clothes.

As if it was a plague, it also consumed Drax the Destroyer. It all began with his hands, they were breaking apart as he was paper being torn apart. There was such fear in his eyes, "Quill..."

Everyone looked over at Star Lord, and saw bits of ash leaving his body. Everyone just stared at him in silence as his body was slowly breaking apart. The silence that was broke by Tony who spoke up to him, "Steady Quill."

"...Oh, man." Quill's eyes watered up as he faded into dust.

"Guys..." The people and gems who just watched how the Guardians of the Galaxy faded away, turned to Lapis Lazuli, and saw that this plague consumed her left hand, before spreading across her entire body. The only thing that was left of her were her ashes, that flied away into the air.

"Lapis..." Peridot said, covering her mouth with her hand as she watched how her friend turned into ash right in front of her eyes. She looked up at Jasper, who was staring at Lapis' ashes floating away. She couldn't read her expression.

"Tony..." The voice that belonged to Doctor Strange suddenly called over to Tony, who along with, Jasper and Peridot turned in the direction of his voice, "There was no other way..."

"What do you mean there was no other way?!" Peridot asked what was on her, Tony's and Jasper's minds, but got no answer as the ash consumed Doctor's Strange entire body, not even his cape was left behind.

"Mr Stark..." Peter's voice came from behind them, as they quickly turned around to the teenager, small pieces of ash were flying out of his body, "I don't feel so good..."

Tony was trying to be calm, but no matter how he tried it didn't change that fact that his voice shaky as he looked at Peter in terror, "You're all right?"

Peter was stumbling, looking over at his fading arms, terrified, " I don't know what's - I don't know what's happening. I don't..."

Spider-Man clutched onto Stark, holding him tightly, once his strength finally gave away. His arms wrapped around Tony's body. He saw through his tear-stained vision how his right arm was starting to break apart, pieces of dust fading away. All Tony could do was hold onto him, clutch the brave, brave child as he trembled, whimpered, started to fade away right in his arms.

''I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go...'' Peter was practically begging Tony, begging for his life.

Tony felt his legs tremble at Peter's grip. He set him down on the ground, and knelt above him, holding the young Avenger tightly. His eyes meet Peter's red, teary ones as he heard the teenager whisper to him, in a shaky tone.

"I'm sorry..." Those were his last words to Iron Man before he was erased completely, his ashes fading away into the air. Tony fell forward from the lack of weight in his arms, before staring at his hands in disbelief.

"He did it..." Nebula stated, plain and true. Everyone that was spared heard her.

A expression of horror and grief grew on Tony's facial features. The grief that is going to last a long time. He dropped his head and put his hands on his face, covering his face with his dust covered hands, with tears threating to spill down his cheeks.

Jasper was doing her best to hide the expression of grief on her face, as she sat down on the ground, her eyes staring forward. Peridot sat next to her, before she hugged her arm, tears falling down the small green gem cheeks. Jasper wrapped her hand around her and brought her even closer to herself, as she sat in silence, wanting to accept the biggest defeat in her entire life, but she couldn't.

She just hoped that Azurite, Shi'ra, Orange Pearl, Centi and Spinel were okay. She needed them to be okay. She wouldn't know what she would do if they all shared the fate of Quill, Mantis, Drax, Lapis, Peter and Strange, and left her alone. She wouldn't forgive herself if four gems and one Kratai that all in some ways helped her to change for the better died, and she failed stop it from happening. Failed to stop the Mad Titan from achieving his destiny.

Nebula sat down next to them, and did nothing but stare at the ground in silence, mourning her sister's death.

* * *

Beach City and Little Homeworld were in shambles.

The panic began when Padparadscha began disintegrating into ash. Her last words before fading into the wind were, "I predict that something terrible is going to happen..."

It was followed by Fluorite sharing the same fate, leaving a huge pile of dust where she just stood a second ago and the Rutile Twins, Rhodonite and Lars stared in horror at how their crewmates just disolved into dust, but a moment after, their captain realized something. He shot up to his feet and made his way to his home as fast as he could, but all he could find of his parents was a pile of ashes.

He fell on his knees and began to sob, mourning for the loss of his parents. A moment later, he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and saw Sadie, with teary eyes. All she said to him was, "My mom is gone..."

Lars stood up from his knees and hugged her, both of them crying into themselves as Rhodonite and Rutile Twins stood behind Sadie, staring at the what was happening in front of them in incredible sadness in their eyes, neither of them having idea of what was happening, but the realization of what might have caused it appearing in their minds.

Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck were all spending their time with each other, until they saw how humans and gems alike began to turn into dust out of sudden. The ones who were more fortunate were staring at the remains of the ones who were less fortunate. The three friends quickly split up and ran off to see if their families were okay. As Jenny was making her way to the Fish Stew Pizza, she ran past and Peedee, who was pushing his hands through the dust that used to be Ronaldo and his dad. She could hear a sigh of relief escaping her mouth when she saw her sister and grandma inside of the Fish Stew Pizza, but the relief of them being still alive quickly faded away when she saw both of them glancing down at the ashes that used to be her dad. It faded away, along with her, the last thing she heard before there was nothing but a pile of dust left of her was her sister and grandma shouting her name.

Buck ran across Beach City into the Big Donut to see if his dad was alright, but all he found was a pile of ashes on the floor, and a confused costumer who was staring at them. The unknown customer turned to Buck before his entire body disolved into dust, and all Buck could do was to stare how the unknown man became a pile of ash, just like his dad.

As for Sour Cream, upon reaching the front doors of his house, he heard crying. Crying that was coming from inside of his house. He bursted through the front door, calling the names of his dad, brother, mom, and the only person from his family that he was able to find was Yellowtail, crying over two piles of ashes that used to be Vidalia and Onion. He and Yellowtail stared at each other for a moment, before they rushed towards each other, embracing each other tightly, mourning for the family the loss.

The minutes passed and everyone gathered in one place in a Beach City. Those people who were lucky enough to be randomly spared.

Greg was one of them.

Unfortunely his cousin Andy wasn't as fortunate. When he felt a strange sensation all over his body, and could feel himself becoming weaker, he reached his hand out for him, saying, "Greg..." before it was the first part of his body that faded.

Greg could only stare at his cousin whose body broke apart just a few seconds later, leaving dust on the ground, "Andy..." was the only thing he could say.

As he kneeled over his cousin's ashes, and pushed his hand through his ashes, he looked around himself to see who was with him here.

Lars, Sadie, Buck, Sour Cream, Yellowtail, Kiki, Jaime, Nanefua, Peedee, Smiley were all here with him. Even Connie's parents were present.

Everyone else was gone.

He heard Connie's dad ask everyone, hoping to get answer, to get idea of what was just happening. Why was this happening, "...What is going on?"

He got no answer...

Everyone else just stood there in silence.

The situation was even worse on Homeworld.

The crowd of confused and hurt gems ran into the throne room of the Diamonds, asking question why their friends and loved ones just faded into dust. White Diamond couldn't control the confused crowd. She couldn't because she was gone, Her and Yellow Diamond both were gone. Them and half of gem population, leaving only Blue Diamond who couldn't answer to these question who was crying her eyes out because she witnessed how her fellow Diamonds just faded right before her eyes, leaving nothing but ashes on their thrones.

Pink Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl were doing their best to calm her down, while also trying to answer the questions of the crowd of gems that gathered in the throne room, but all of them suddenly stopped when they saw Pink Pearl shatter into dust, with her not even realizing what going to happen to her, before it was too late.

* * *

''Still no word from Stark?" Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D asked Maria Hill, as they were currently in a car, driving through the streets of New York.

"No, not yet. We're watching every satellite in both hemispheres, there's still nothing." Hill answered, glancing down at the device in her hands, before it beeped, three times.

"What is it?" Fury asked her.

"Multiple bogeys over Wakanda." Hill answered, looking up from her device at Fury, for a second, before lookind back down at the device.

"Same energy signatures as New York?" Fury wanted to know.

''Ten times bigger." Hill explained.

Fury looked over at her, taking his eye sight away from the road, "Tell Klein. We'll meet him at...''

He didn't even had a chance to finish what he saw saying as Hill quickly cut him off, pointing at the car that was spiraling out of control in front of them, "Nick!"

Fortunely for them, but unfortunely for the car that was parked not that far away from them, the car that the driver lost control of stopped after it hit a car that was parked on the street. Fury and Hill both got out of their car to see if the driver was okay. As the latter one approached the car, she quickly noticed that the damage wasn't serious, but it was certainly going to leave a scratch.

''They okay?" Fury asked her.

''There's no one here." She pointed out, staring at the empty car in confusion.

Fury stared at her for a moment, not really knowing how to reply to this, before he heard something. It was a helicopter. He turned around and saw helicopter, tail rotor was already smoking from the damage. He couldn't do nothing but watch as it crashed into the nearest building. People began to scream, running away from that building.

''Call Control. Code Red." Fury told her, glancing over at the place where the helicopter crashed.

"Nick..." Hill called over to him, her voice was so weak out of sudden, as Fury turned around to her to see her disintegrating_._

"Hill?" He said to her as she was erased completely, her ashes fading away into the air.

"Oh my God..." He heard a man say from his left side. He quickly turned around to him to see the said man, staring down at his disintegrating hands in horror, before it consumed his entire body, his ashes flying away into the air.

Fury's attention quickly went back to his car as then raced back to it, pushing away a confused man who just like he witnesses Hill and another man fading away that stood in his way. He quickly opened the back doors of his car, with his hands immediately digging into a bag that laid there. His hands quickly digging through the things that were inside of bag. He had to find it. It was something he always carried with him. He finally found it and took out of the bag a thing that appeared to be an old pager with extra gear attached to it. He quickly send out an emergency call, just seconds before his hand turned into ashes.

"Oh no..." He said, the disarray growing on his facial features when he realized that even _he_ wasn't going to make it out of it unscathed. He shook his head, grumbling, "Motherfu..."

Fury faded away into the dust as the pager fell to the ground, red lights blinking. The device displayed "SENDING..." before a red-blue-and-gold star insignia appeared on the screen.

* * *

Ant-Man opened his eyes and stared out into the Quantum Realm. It had no end, and no beginning, just endless space. Scott Lang, was just staring into the colors around him, most, if not all of them not known to any ordinary person. He tried to remain as still as possible, refusing to even move an inch until he was certain that he was safe as he drifted. His mind rattled, finally returning to the voice in his head. In his helmet, but it was close enough.

"_Mic check 1, 2! 1, 2! How's everybody doin' tonight in the Quantum Realm?_" Scott declared loud and clear.

_"_Scott, we read you,_"_ Hank Pym's immediate response sounded in his ears.

Ant-Man continued to look into the Quantum Realm. His left palm gripped the small containment unit while the other drifted by his side, "Ah, I just… I just wanted to make sure,"

When he heard the voice of Hope, Scott was happy in his place, but he kept himself under control. He held his breath, listening to her voice tell him, _"_Great. Preparing for reentry in… 5… 4… 3..._"_

Scott closed his eyes, excepting a change of scenery, but instead found himself to be still inside of the Quantum Realm.

_"Hello?" _Scott called out for them, but silence was all he received in from the other side. He closed his eyes, and let out a sigh, thinking that they were messing with him, "_Ha, ha, very funny. Hank, quit screwing around; you told me yourself not to screw around._"

A walkie-talkie hanged by its wire and swung from one side to another. Back and forth. The computers and other equipment laid on the rooftop and were used for analyzing and controlling the Quantum Tunnel resting in the back of Scott's van. They were all abandoned, nothing but a pile of ashes floating, falling down on the floor of the rooftop where Hank, Janet, and Hope once stood, stood just several seconds ago.

_"Hank?"_ the walkie-talkie asked, Hank Pym's ashes covering it.

_"Hope?"_ Hope van Dyne's ashes floated away.

_"Janet?"_ Janet van Dyne remained as nothing but dust. Even that faded away.

_"Guys… Guys… Okay, seriously, don't joke around; bring me up, let's go." _He told them, but silence was still the only thing he was getting in response.

The world that was outside of the Quantum Realm, away from the roof, and further beyond it didn't respond. Nothing could be heard on that roof except for a distant screams miles and miles away, and Scott was unaware of the terrible events that were currently happening.

"_Guys!"_

* * *

It was the first day of a new universe.

The first day of Thanos' retirement.

The sunrise peaked above the horizon as birds were chirping in the distance.

Out of shadows in a small hut on the hill, Thanos stepped out into the light. His left arm was scarred, and there no possibility to heal it. Sitting down upon the grass, the Mad Titan let out a short grunt as he adjusted to a sitting position, his eyes rising and flinching under the heavy brightness. The warmth of the sun shining into his face. Thanos stared onto it, narrowed eyes finally relaxing.

He breathed in and sighed.. A fulfilled and satisfied essence entered his body. He looked out onto his surroudings and saw the river waves, saw the tree lines, all of them leading to his farm, to the grass, past the scarecrow made of his armor and finally onto him. That sunrise washed over all of it, the shining brightness completely otherworldly, It was the kind of one he had only experienced on his home world, before it became a desolated westeland, before it faced extinction.

It was he when recalled a certain question his daughter asked him.

She asked him if it was worth it.

With one smile at the sun he knew the answer.

Yes.

It was...

* * *

**I hope I did a good job at writing this chapter, because this is the chapter for which most of you was probably waiting for. The characters facing the effects of Thanos' snap, and their fates.**

**The next two chapters are going to be a previews to Endgame. (which is going to be the longest arc in this story, lasting 10+ chapters)**

**I wrote this segment in case if you missed any character death, or you were curious about the fates of the background characters that weren't mentioned in this chapter.**

**I'm not including Marvel's character, because I'm certain that you know who was dusted, and who wasn't.**

**So, let's start (Yes, I know that I probably missed a lot of characters):**

**Victims of the Snap: Steven, Pearl, Connie, Spinel, Bismuth, Lapis Lazuli, White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Pink Pearl, Orange Pearl, Most of Centi's crew including Cotta, Doc, Leggy, Navy, All of Famethysts except for Skinny, Lars' parents, Sadie's mom, Andy, Jenny, Kofi, Dewey, Kevin, Ronaldo, Vidalia, Onion, Fryman, Mystery Girl, Padparadscha, Fluorite, Rainbow Jasper, Snowflake Obsidian, Yellow Zircon, Green Larimar, Ocean Jasper, Watermelon Tourmaline, Hessonite, Heaven Beetle, Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Freckled Lapis, Lace Amethyst, Angel Aura Quartz, Topaz**

**Survivors of the Snap: Azurite, Garnet, Amethyst, Shi'ra, Lion, Peridot, Jasper, Greg, Connie's parents, Blue Diamond, Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl, Lars, Sadie, Rutile Twins, Rhodonite, Centi, Terra, Buck, Mr Smiley, Nanefua, Sour Cream, Biggs Jasper, Skinny Jasper, Holly Blue Agate, Eyeball, Army, Jaime, Yellowtail, Marty, Peedee, Kiki, Little Larimar, Blue Zircon, Bixbite, Squaridot, Emerald, Zebra Jasper, Nephrite that worked at Fish Stew Pizza, Earth Beetle, Crazy Lace Agate, The curly-haired Lapis, Orange Spodumene, Cherry Quartz**

**Anyway, hope it wasn't that bad, and see you in another chapters!**


	23. Preview for Endgame 1

"It seems like a thousand years ago..."

Tony Stark was laying on the sand in the desert, removing the helmet from his very first suit from his head.

"I fought my way out of that cave..."

One of the eyes in Iron Man's broken helmet was shining as it was recording something.

"Became Iron Man..."

Tony held up an arc reactor that had "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" written on it.

"Realized I loved you..."

Pepper Potts pressed Iron Man's helmet against her forehead.

The ship which once belonged to the Guardians of the Galaxy was drifting aimlessly through space.

"I know I said no more suprises, but I was really hoping to pull of last one..."

Tony Stark was inside of that ship, sitting in one of the seats, watching over the stars.

"The world has changed..." Peggy's Carter voice spoke up.

Garnet glanced over at the photo of her, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven, her attention was mostly focused on Steven and Pearl, the two of them being the ones from this photo who didn't make it out from Thanos' snap alive.

"None of us can go back..."

Steve Rogers was in a place where were the support group sessions for people who had difficulties with moving on from Thanos' snap, staring sadly on the floor.

"All we can do is our best..."

Clint Barton was practicing with his daughter. An arrow landed right in the middle of target, before they high-fived, both of them having a huge smiles on their faces.

"And sometimes the best we can do..."

Clint Barton, now being a completely different person, stood on the streets of Japan, slowly turning back, seeing his friend and fellow Avenger Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow was staring at for a second or two, before the two old friends grabbed each other hands.

"Is to start over..."

Captain America was holding back tears as he was carrying Peggy's Carter coffin on her funeral.

Thor watched in horror how Falcon, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Spinel, Steven, and Connie all faded into dust in Wakanda.

"I saw all these people die..." He said.

Azurite, Shi'ra, Garnet and Amethyst were in the throne room of the Diamonds, speaking with Blue Diamond, the last of the Diamonds about something. Most of the part of her head was covered by a huge hood. Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl were standing by her side.

"I keep telling everybody they should move on." Captain America said to Natasha Romanoff as the two Avengers were having a chat in the Avengers headquarters, "Some do, but not us."

Bruce Banner titled his head to his right side.

Scott Lang was looking at the posters of missing people with confusion, having no idea what happened during his time in the Quantum Realm.

"Even if there's a small chance..." Black Widow started.

A space ship was flying towards a city.

"We owe this, to everyone's who's not in this room to try."

Clint put his hand on Natasha's shoulder, to which she smiled, pressing her cheek against it.

Amethyst and Clint Barton were running for their lives through some strange tunnels as something exploded behind them.

Rocket cocked his rifle as he held onto War Machine's shoulder with as smirk on his face. Jasper and Shi'ra were standing next to them, the orange gem having a smirk on her face, just like Rocket as the Kratai was glaring at something in front of them.

"We will." Rogers said, in determination.

Hawkeye titled his head to the left.

Scott Lang was looking at something before him. 

"Whatever it takes." Captain America said.

Azurite was sitting on the ground in Little Homeworld. The male gem was leaning against the wall as Centi was sitting on his right side and Garnet was on his left side. The fusion giving him a small smile and a pat on his back.

Thor glanced down at Stormbreaker, with lightning exploading around him.

Nebula roared as she held her two blades out, ready to strike. She jumped to her feet and charged forward.

Clint readied his bow, ready to fire at anything that will come in his way.

"Whatever it takes." He said.

Natasha was in the shooting range, firing bullets at the wooden target.

"Whatever it takes." She said.

Azurite gritted his teeth, his eyes being dark with hate, before charging forward at someone in front of him.

"Whatever it takes." He said.

Garnet adjusted her broken visiors, as her gauntlets appeared on her fists.

"Whatever it takes." She said.

Captain America grunted as he tightened his shield's strap.

Scott Lang was jumping across the destroyed building, launching himself off a pencil.

Tony looked up at Nebula, or Jasper, or Peridot, or even his helmet.

"Whatever it takes." He said.

The sun shined through the windows of the Avengers headquarters as everyone marched forward. Captain America was leading the group, as everyone else were walking behind him, in pairs. Tony with Natasha, Nebula with Scott, Clint with Rhodey, Garnet with Amethyst, Peridot with Jasper and Azurite with Shi'ra.

* * *

**Well, here's the first preview, the second one is going to be posted tommorow.**


	24. Preview for Endgame 2

Inside of the Avengers headquarters, Bruce Banner spoke up, ''If we do this, we'd be going in shorthanded.''

Thor was sitting by the table, playing with a piece of bread in his hand, as his eyes turned to the left.

James Rhodes titled his head to the right.

"Yeah, you mean cause he killed all of our friends?" He asked.

Rain was falling down from the sky on Black Widow. She didn't care about it, and just stared down on the ground.

Steve Rogers was in the bathroom, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

Azurite was sitting on a couch, alone in a room, his eyes not leaving Spinel's necklace.

"It's not about how much we lost." Tony spoke up.

Nebula and Rocket both sat down on the hatch of the Guardians ship, holdings each other's hands as they mourned for the family they lost.

Tony and Pepper Potts shared a tearful hug together.

Garnet and Amethyst shared a tearful reunion with Peridot.

Azurite and Shi'ra gave Jasper a sad smiles when she walked over to them, returning the smile, which faded a moment later.

"It's about how much we have left." He added.

Iron Man suit was flying through the city of New York, before stopping in front of a building.

Clint Barton was leaning against a door frame, offering someone a nod of his head.

Azurite, Garnet, Jasper, Shi'ra, Amethyst and Peridot were standing in front of a device which was showing them Captain America, Ant-Man and Black Widow, all three of them informing them about their recent finding.

Thor summoned Stormbreaker which flied right past Carol Danvers' shoulder. The latter one gave the God of Thunder a smirk in response.

"We're the Avengers. We gotta finish this." He continued.

Azurite, Shi'ra, Jasper, Amethyst, Garnet, Peridot, Captain America, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Rocket and Nebula all looked forward themselves at something.

"You trust me?" He asked.

Captain America and Iron Man were facing each other in the city of New York.

"I do."

They shook hands.

Rocket, Danvers, Azurite, Garnet, Jasper, Shi'ra, Amethyst, Peridot, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine, Banner and Captain America were all in the Guardians' ship, flying through space, ready for whatever was going to happen.

Tony looked down at an old picture of him and Peter Parker, both of them were unaware back then what was going to happen to the young Avenger.

"You could not live with your own failure..." Thanos started.

Sanctuary 2 was drifting through space.

Nebula, War Machine and Shi'ra were staring up at something, before Rhodey looked down at the cyborg.

"Where did that bring you?..." He added.

Thor was looking at something with horrified expression on his face.

Similiar thing was with Rocket and Amethyst, the talking raccoon and the purple gem staring up, in dread.

Steve was breathing heavily as he was on the ground, beaten, glancing over at his shield.

Ruby and Sapphire were laying on the ground, among the rubble, defeated, sharing a horrified look with each other.

A blue light appeared on the ground and out stepped the Mad Titan himself, wearing his entire armor and wielding a double sided sword.

"Back to me." He finished.

Thanos was sitting on a large rock among the rubble of a destroyed building as Captain America, Thor, Iron-Man, Azurite and Garnet were slowly making their way towards him.

* * *

**Here we go with both of the previews, the next chapter will be the start of the Endgame arc!**


	25. The Decimation

Lila Barton firmly gripped her bow tightly as she was was aiming it towards the target. Her father, and a retired Avenger Clint Barton was holding up a few arrows while mentoring his daughter how to use a bow.

''Okay, hold on. Don't shoot. You see where you're going?" The retired Avenger asked his daughter.

"Mhm." Lila nodded her head in response.

''Okay, now let's worry about how you get there." Clint told her ashe corrected his daughter's foot to the proper position, and adjusted her shooting stance, ''Here. Can you see?"

''Yeah." Lila answered.

"You sure?" Clint wanted to be sure.

''Mhm." Lila assured him, nodding her head.

Clint smirked at the idea that just popped into his mind. He pushed Lila's hair in front of her face while covering her left eye, "How about now?... Alright. Ready your fingers.

''Hey, you guys want mayo or mustard, or both?" Laura's Barton's voice sounded in their ears.

''Who wants mayo on a hotdog?" Lila asked her father.

''Probably your brothers." Clint replied, jokingly as he turned to look at his wife, "Uh, two mustard, please! Thanks, mama.''

Laura nodded her head, as she turned her attention towards her youngest child, Nathaniel who was playing baseball with his brother, "Nathaniel, mayo or mustard?"

"How about ketchup?" Nathaniel asked, taking neither of the options offered to him.

''Mind your elbow." Cline instructed his daughter, who readied herself before releasing the arrow and it hit the target directly in the middle of the target. A perfect bullseye, "Hahaha! Good job, Hawkeye!" He smiled down at his daughter. It looked like all the training paid off. That, and his daughter actually took his advice to heart. He held his hand to her and they high-fived, "Go get your arrow."

Lila nodded her head and made her way over to the target to get the arrow.

''Hey guys! Enough practice, soup's on!" Laura called over to them again.

"Alright, we're coming; we're hungry." Clint responded with a nod of his head, as he turned around to where his daughter was supposed to be standing, but much to his suprise no one was standing there. His smile faded away alone as all he could see of his daughter was her bow, lying the grass, not noticing ashes flying away alongside the wind.

He took a step forward, looking behind a tree, excepting her to be standing there, but there was nothing there, "Lila? Honey?"

He didn't received any response. The barn, that was the nearest place where Lila could have ran off was locked, so this wasn't an option. He took a step backwards, and called out for his wife, "Hey, babe?!"

The retired Avenger's eyes peered to the picnic table where his wife and two sons were supposed to be sitting by, but they weren't there, they just disappeared just like his daughter, "Babe!" He called over to his wife again, dropping the arrows on the ground and leaving it behind. It didn't matter to him, all he that he cared about now was his family. Family that wasn't here anymore, "Laura!"

He whistled, with panic growing bigger and bigger with each second, as his eyes were looking around across the fields around him, "Boys!"

He ran, heading directly at the picnic table to see a baseball bat and a glove that his sons were playing with on the ground, with ashes laying next to them. His darted towards a tray with food, it along the hot-dogs they were going to eat layed on the ground, next to the ashes that used to be his wife.

"Boys!" He began to run across his surroundings, his eyes being wide with horror. He called out for his family over and over again.

"Laura!"

"Lila!"

But no one responded to his calls

No one could...

* * *

Everything was quiet on Homeworld. A planet that was once filled with gems now seemed to be a shadow of it former self. The gems who were spared from the Decimation were looking up at the screen which was playing the transmissions from the Diamonds once in a while, wanting Blue Diamond to finally explain to them what happened. Why did their friends and loved ones dissolved into ash and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Speaking of Blue Diamond, the last one of the Diamonds sat on her throne, most of her face being covered by a hood. Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl were in the throne room with her, the two pearls getting everything ready for the transmission Blue Diamond was going to broadcast across all colonies. She didn't actually remembered the last time when she felt that sad, but she knew she had to be in a stable condition. With her being the last one of the Diamonds, she was needed in Homeworld more than ever, and she promised to Steven that she'll never make anyone cry again, and she was going to keep that promise.

"My Diamond." Blue's Pearl spoke up in her usual quiet tone as Blue Diamond looked down at her, "We're ready to broadcast."

"Thank you, pearl." Blue Diamond said to her pearl in response.

Blue Pearl nodded her head in answer to her Diamonds words as she glanced over at Yellow Pearl who was ready to start the broadcast at any second. She gave her a quick nod of her head, telling her to start. Yellow Pearl instantly responded to that and after pressing a few buttons on the computer, the image of Blue Diamond could be seen across all colonies.

"Greetings my loyal subjects...'' The last of the Diamonds began.

Every gem colony was watching her message, only this time, there were much less gems watching it as half of gem population was decimated.

"I'm certain that many of you may be wondering what happened..." She continued, taking a small pause, "It's Thanos... It appears that he did exactly what he was planning to do..."

Centi along with the surviving gems from Little Homeworld made it back to Beach City, the crowd of confused humans and gems approached them, wanting to get answers what happened.

"He erased half of all living creatures from existance..."

They told them everything, their arrival in Wakanda, fighting off Thanos' forces, and finally about their desperate attempt to hold back the Mad Titan as long as possible as one of the Avengers was trying to destroy the Mind Stone, which ended up with Thanos snapping his fingers. They told them about everyone who wasn't spared from Thanos' snap, and many of them broke down at this news. Greg and Connie's parents were one those who broke down into tears, after hearing that Steven and Connie were one of those who weren't spared from Thanos' snap.

"Including..." Blue Diamond paused for a moment, looking over at now empty thrones of White Diamond and Yellow Diamond, "White Diamond... Yellow Diamond... and..."

Azurite was sitting on the couch in a room in the Avengers headquarters. His device on his hand was opened as he was watching Blue Diamond's broadcast.

"...And Steven." Blue Diamond's voice was on the edge of breaking down, but she was doing a good job at hiding it, "...The next months are going to be hard for all of us, I'm not excepting all of you to be in condition to do anything, but we all are going to need each other."

Shi'ra, Amethyst, Garnet and Rocket in the same room as he and were also watching her entire broadcast. The Kratai sighed as her device closed down, once the broadcast ended, "Well, she seems to more stable than I thought she'd be."

"That's a good news, compared to everything we got since Thanos snapped." Amethyst stated, remembered how worried they were about Blue Diamond's state after they heard that Yellow Diamond and White Diamond died in Thanos's snap, especially after informed them that Steven and Spinel after she asked them about them.

"I wouldn't say it now, guys. She may have look to be in stable condition in this broadcast, but she could have just showing us to be stable in the broadcast. We don't know how she is behind the camera." Garnet stated, wanting it to be true, because as Amethyst it would be actually a really good news, compared to every news they were receiving with each passing day, but she knew that it was still a possibility.

"If you say so, Garnet." Amethyst said, turning around to Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff who stood in front of a computer that who was showing them how many people were erased from existance. All four of them walked over to them to see how many lives were lost, and hoping that it finally stopped, but they found themselves to be wrong. The death toll was currently at 3.2 billion, and it was still growing with each passing second.

"This is a nightmare." Captain America stated.

"A nightmare? I wish it was a nightmare, because you can wake up from one. You can't wake up from what is happening now." Amethyst pointed out.

"I agree. I've had better nightmares." Natasha agreed with her.

"Hey!" James Rhodes' voice suddenly came from the other side of the room, as he was walked into this room to inform them about something, "So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."

"What do you mean it turned off?" Rocket titled his head to the right, in confusion.

"It was working since you guys found it on that street, why did it turned off out of sudden?" Shi'ra added.

"I don't know. I'm just here to tell you about it." Rhodes answered.

"Let's go see it." Captain America told everyone, to which they nodded their heads, and began to follow Rhodes into the room where they kept Fury's pager. Shi'ra stopped for a second and looked over at Azurite who was still sitting on the couch.

"Azuri..." She didn't even had to finish what she was saying as Azurite hopped off the couch and followed the rest into the room where they kept the pager.

"How is he doing?" Natasha asked the Kratai.

"Well, he started talking with us again, so he is in a better condition, but it's still away from perfect." Shi'ra answered, as Natasha nodded her head in understanding.

"What about you guys?" Natasha asked her another question.

"I'm just trying not to think about everyone we lost. Amethyst and Garnet are doing the same, as for Rocket, I'm not exactly sure." Shi'ra answered, earning another nod of understanding from Natasha.

When they made their way to the room where they were housing the transmitter device, they saw Bruce Banner analyzing it, and Garnet being the first one to ask him about this device,"What have we got?"

"Whatever the signal is sending, it finally creeped off." Banner answered, staring at the device.

"I thought we bypassed the battery." Captain America stated.

''We did. It's still plugged in, it just... it just stopped." Rhodes explained.

"Maybe we should send the signal again." Amethyst offered, trying to figure out what they should do now.

"We don't even know what this is." Banner pointed out, pointing at the pager.

"I'm just trying to think of we should do with this thing now." Amethyst said to him.

''Fury knew what it is. Just do it, please." Natasha said, agreeing with Amethyst's idea, "You tell me the second you get a signal. I want to know who's on the other end of that thing.''

Banner nodded his head at her words, as Black Widow turned around, only to be find herself face to face with a blond-haired woman she never meet in her entire life. The others turned around as well, looking just as confused as Black Widow at the presence of this unknown woman.

"Where's Fury?" She asked them.

"...Who are you?" Shi'ra asked, having no idea who this woman was. This question was on the minds of everyone here.

* * *

Things were looking bad for Tony, Nebula, Jasper and Peridot, and if they were honest with themselves, it was just a gentle way to put it. They were stuck in the ship which once belonged to Quill and his crew for days, and they honestly had no idea for how longer they were going to be inside of that ship. They couldn't use ship Shi'ra ship to get out of Titan as they found her ship to be unable to take them home after Jasper crushed into it.

Jasper and Peridot found Quill's zune and and turned it on so that the silence wasn't defining. The song that was now playing was called "Dear Mr. Fantasy.", and as it could be heard across the ship, the two gems along with Stark and the daughter of Thanos were sitting by one table, playing an Earthy game called paper football. Peridot and Nebula were playing against each other, as Tony was instructing them how to play it. The small green gem understood the rules pretty quickly, but Nebula was having hard time understanding them, but Tony was patient.

"Wrra!" Nebula growled, making Peridot jump back a little, as she tried to catch the paper football.

"No. You don't need to do that, because you're just holding a position." Tony said to Nebula, explaining her the rules of this game. Nebula flicked a paper football and it landed a couple inches away, 'Oh, yeah, that was close." She once again tried to flick a paper football towards Peridot. She inwardly smiled when she got a goal, "That's a goal, you and the dorito are now one apiece."

"I would like to try again." Nebula stated, flicking another paper football towards Peridot. The green gem stared at her, noticing that it was probably the first time Nebula was experiencing something like that in her entire life. It reminded her of her older self when she arrived on Earth and started learning how to live on this planet.

Tony gave both of them a half smile, "You two tied up. Can you feel the tension? It's fun."

Peridot, deciding to give Nebula this round, poorly flicked a paper football at her, "Oh, no."

Nebula flicked another paper football at Peridot, and scored another goal, winning this round.

"And you won." Tony looked over at the cyborg. The daughter of Thanos jumping back for a second, looking like her mind was trying to process what just happened. Did Stark just said that she won? She won?!

"Well." Peridot said as she hopped on the table and offered her hand to Nebula, "It was a fair game."

Nebula hesitated for a second but after a moment grabbed Peridot's hand and shook it, as Tony asked them, "Have fun?

"... It was fun..." Nebula said after a moment of thinking what to say back, to which Peridot nodded in agreement.

"Okay, orange hulk, now it's our turn." Tony said to Jasper, as the two of them switched places with Peridot and Nebula.

* * *

Tony was now sitting on the floor of the Guardians ship, being now more skinner and and weaker with malnutrition. He looked down at Iron Man's busted helmet. His hand reached forward to turn on the helmet.

"This thing on?" He asked himself as the helmet scanned him. The Avenger leaned against the wall while taking deep breaths, "...Hey, Miss Potts... Pep. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. I don't know if you're ever going to see these. I don't even know if you're... if you're still... Oh god, I hope so. Today is day 21, uh 22..."

Tony was standing at a window to gaze out into space, waiting for his impending doom to arrive.

"You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, Thanks to the blue meanie the green dorito and the orange hulk back there. You'd like all of them. Very practical. The meanie being only a tiny bit sadistic, the dorito being a small nerd or the orange hulk being like... I actually can't find words how to describe, she is determined that's for sure. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, along with the other ship, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time..."

Tony, Nebula, Peridot and Jasper were working tirelessly on the fuel cells of the ship.

"But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it, at least for me and meanie, the dorito and the orange hulk don't need to breathe, but they're not fan of being here with our bodies... And Pep, I ... I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well you know what it looks like. Don't feel bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt. I should probably lie down. Please know that... when I drift off, I will think about you. Because it's always you..."

With that, Tony turned the helmet off. He rubbed his thumb over the left eye, and then leaned down, to what would be his last sleep. Nebula, Jasper and peridot walked over to him, and carried him to Drax's seat, and laid him there. They walked away dejected, the two gems realizng that soon enough they would be the only ones left alone in this ship.

Suddenly, a vast bluish light illuminated the space surrounding them. There was a light on his face, which grew brighter and brighter until he was to open his eyes. He finally caught the glimpse of what, or rather who was the source of this light. He saw a blond-haired woman, who was wearing a suit with mixed colors of red, blue and gold. It was Carol Danvers, a woman known as Captain Marvel.

Back in the Avengers headquarters. Steve Rogers was holding a blade, having just shaved off his beard. He sighed and looked into a side mirror, before it suddenly started shaking, slowly at first, and then severely. Everyone who were in that bulding at this time heard that, and quickly ran out towards the exit to see what was going on outside. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes , Garnet, Amethyst, Azurite, Rocket and Shi'ra walked out of the Avengers headquarters, and looked at something. A spark of hope grew inside of Shi'ra, Rocket and Azurite as they recognized this ship. Their friends could have been there! Carol landed the ship ont he ground as the landing gears deployed as they touch the ground. The entry hatch opened, and Tony, Nebula, Jasper and Peridot walked out, with Tony being supported by Nebula and Jasper.

Steven ran up to Tony and helped him to stand as everyone else that just arrived in this ship split up to talk with everyone they know. Peridot slowly walked over to Garnet and Amethyst, a small sigh of relief leaving her mouth as she was happy that they were okay.

"We couldn't stop him." She spoke up to them, her eyes changing directions between Garnet and Amethyst.

The small green gem could feel Amethyst giving her a small pat on her shoulder, as Garnet said to her, "Neither could we."

Peridot looked around her surroudings, to see the woman who she assumed to be Pepper Potts she heard so much about during all these days she spent with Tony inside of the Guardians ship, hugging Tony, as these two were sharing a tearful reunion with each other. Her eyes then went to Nebula to see the daughter of Thanos sitting on the hatch of the ship, holding hands with Rocket as they were mourning for the family they lost, and at last, her eyes finally went to Jasper who went over to Shi'ra and Azurite, clearly relieved that they were okay. The large orange gem offered them a sad smile, which faded just a moment later.

"Where's Bismuth?" Peridot asked, just a second after she was done with looking around herself, noticing that some of them were missing. Amethyst and Garnet didn't said anything, "Pearl?" Again, silence, "...Steven?"

"...They're all gone. Connie is gone too." Garnet's reply only confirmed Peridot's suspicion, the fusion normally stoic expression showing pain of all of the loved ones they lost.

"What about Lapis? Where is she?" Amethyst then asked her about whereabouts of Lapis Lazuli, even though the answer seemed to be pretty obvious to her. She just wanted to be sure.

"She fell apart into ash and there was nothing I could to stop it. She and all of the Guardians that were with us when Thanos snapped did." Peridot explained, her eyes going down on the ground, staring down at it, sadly.

Jasper approached two of her roommates, offering them a quick, and a rather sad smile which faded a moment after. Azurite was staring at her for a good moment, happy that she was okay. Happy that at least one more of his friends made it out alive, after losing so many people and gems he cared about in the decimation. The large orange gem could feel her eyes shooting open in suprise as Azurite embraced her, holding her as tightly as he could, but he wasn't the only one, a second later, Shi'ra embraced her as well. The suprise from the sudden hug from them eventually wore off and she hugged them back, wrapping her hands around them. The three friends shared a hug with each other, being happy that they're okay, simply being there for each other.

The hug lasted a few more seconds until they released each other from the hug, as Azurite spoke up to her, "We're so happy to see that you're okay."

"I'm happy too. You have no idea how worried I was that you may end up fading away." Jasper told them as her eyes went to the ground at what she was going to say, "Guys. I know that you may have to deal with a lot of bad news in the last days, but you need to know that Quill, Mantis, Drax and Gamora are..."

"We know. We realized that when we saw you, Peridot, Nebula and this guy who I assume to be Stark step out of their ship, and they weren't with you." Shi'ra told her.

"Rocket..." Azurite casted a quick glance at Rocket to see him, still holding hands with Nebula as they still sat on the hatch of the Guardians' ship.

"What's about Rocket?" Jasper wanted to know.

Azurite bit his lips, Jasper could see a small tear sliding down his cheek. He wiped it from his face as he said, "He's all alone. Groot is gone too."

"Good thing Nebula is here." Shi'ra said, gesturing towards the cyborg. Rocket and Nebula wouldn't call themselves best friends, but they were going to need each other.

"Yeah..." Azurite agreed with his sister.

"And Shi'ra, there's one more thing I need to tell you..." Jasper was interrupted by the Kratai.

"My ship is gone." Shi'ra said what Jasper was going to say, "I know, otherwise you wouldn't come here in the Guardians' ship."

Jasper nodded her head as she was about to ask another question, "Guys, if you two are here, then what about Orange?" Silence was the only answer she had to receive to realize that Orange Pearl wasn't spared from Thanos' snap, so she asked about another one of her friends, "Centi?"

"She survived but most of her crew didn't. Terra was the only one who survived. They went back to Little Homeworld along with other survivors while all four of us decided to stay here with the Avengers." Shi'ra explained.

Jasper sighed, having no idea for who it was going harder to take, for Centi who lost almost her entire crew, or Terra who lost not only her fellow crewmates but also her beloved one, and she honestly didn't wanna know. Another sigh escaped her mouth as she asked another question, "What about Spinel?''

Again, silence was the only answer she had to receive to know that Spinel, just like Orange wasn't spared from Thanos' snap. It became even more clear for her when she saw Spinel's necklace coming out from Azurite's pocket, "I'm sorry about it, Azurite. I know how much you cared about her."

Azurite said nothing to her in response, just nodded his head to show her that he heard her.

"...Hey, sis." Amethyst voice suddenly came from behind Jasper as the said gem turned around to see the small purple gem looking up at her.

"Hey." Jasper said, looking down at her.

"I'm glad you made it out of it okay." Amethyst said to her.

Jasper nodded her head at Amethyst, thinking what to say to her, "Same to you."

"We let you two catch up." Shi'ra said, as she turned towards Nebula who was leaving the hatch, "I and Azurite are going to talk with Nebula."

Shi'ra did as she told them to. She and Azurite made their way over to the daughter of Thanos to talk with her, "Nebula." she said to her, once they approached her.

''Shi'ra." Nebula said to him as she turned to Azurite, "Azurite."

"It's good to see you again." Azurite was the next to say something, rubbing the back of his head, thinking what to say next, "...We're glad to see you made it out alive."

Nebula just nodded her head at his words.

"We're sorry... about Gamora." Shi'ra added. She considered Nebula a friend of hers, even though they only met two or three times.

"I will kill my father and I won't rest until I'm dead to reverse the horror that he has done. It's what...It's what Gamora would do...and even if." Azurite and Shi'ra could see her struggling to get the words out as the tone of her voice was full of hatred at the mention of her father, a lone tear falling from her eyes, trailing over the metal plate on her cheek, "Even if she can't be brought back...I would rest easy knowing that I brought justice to her killer. To the man who dared call himself our father."

Even though he was hesitating at first, Azurite placed his hand on her shoulder, and said, "Get in the line. We all want to get him."

Nebula just gave him another silent nod in response.

It was just a moment before everyone made their way back into the Avengers headquarters.


	26. I am inevitable

The entire group was gathered inside of the Avenger headquarters. Not only that, but still images of several individuals started to fly around the holograms. Those they had lost in the Decimation. Starting with Erik Selvig, then going to Maria Hill, T'Challa, Scott Lang, Stephen Strange, Connie, and many more, even some faces of gems appeared there, like Pearl, Bismuth or Lapis.

''It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." James Rhode spoke up.

''World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census..." Natasha added.

Garnet and Amethyst let out a sigh once Steven's image came up, having no idea what they're going to say to Greg the next time they'll see him.

"And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures." Black Widow continued explaining to Danvers what happened, as Tony stared to the lone image of Peter Parker staring at him, "He wiped out... _fifty percent_... of all living creatures."

''Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked, as he sat at a table, getting blood for healing, letting out a shaky breath.

''We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through.'' Steve answered.

"We all tried to hold him back as long as we could, but he just walked through all of us like nothing." Sh'ira added, shaking her head.

"What's wrong with him?' Tony asked, pointing at sullen-looking Thor, sitting on a bench, seemingly deep in thought.

''Oh, he's pissed." Rocket stated, "He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?"

Tony blinked, as if he had only just now noticed Rocket, "Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.''

''Maybe I am." Rocket said back.

''We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, we even used Homeworld's best technology and we got nothing." Garnet said, going back to the original topic.

"He just disappeared without a trace." Amethyst added.

''Tony, you fought him.'' Captain America said to Tony.

Tony looked puzzled, "Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight." He pointed at Jasper and Peridot, "If you need confirmation, you can ask these two."

Jasper and Peridot just stared at the floor in response, not saying anything, but it was enough for everyone to understand.

''Okay." Steve simply said, having no idea what to say about it.

''He's unbeatable." Tony stated.

''Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve wanted to know.

Tony snorted. ''Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

''Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus.'' Steve told him.

''And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?'' Stark said, standing up from the seat. He pushed things off the table with a clatter got better footing. Everyone winced at the noise, "I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse...''

Tony lunged for Steve. Rhodes quickly came in front of him, trying to stop him, as he shouted, "Hey, hey, hey!"

"Tony, calm down. You're not in the condition to start fights!" Peridot told Tony to calm down.

"She's right. You should just sit back down." Jasper added.

''Alive and otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not- that's what we needed!'' Tony continued his rant, not listening to neither of them.

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve pointed out.

"I said, "_we'd lose_". You said, "_We'll do that together too_." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers.'' Tony breathlessly stated.

''Okay." Rhodes said, his hands on Tony's shoulder.

''Right?'' Tony said, looking over at War Machine.

''You made your point. Just sit down" Rhodey stated.

"Okay...'' Tony simply said.

"Okay?" Rhodes raised his brow.

''Nah, nah. Here's my point. You know what?" Tony continued.

"Tony, you're sick." Rhodes said, concerned.

''She's great, by the way..." Tony said, everyone knew he was referring to Danvers.

''Sit down. Sit." Rhodes still tried to calm him down, without any effect.

"We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules!" Tony stated as he walked up right up to Steve's face, his voice hushing down to a venomous whisper_, "_ I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar."

Steve looked affected by Tony's words. The old friends just gazed at each other. After a moment, Tony riped his Arc Reactor from his chest and shoved it into Steve's hand, as he said, "Here, take this. You find him, and you put that on. You hide.''

It was just a moment before Tony fell on the ground. Steve was immediately by his side, as everyone started to gather around them.

"Tony!" Rogers called out.

"I'm fine. I...'' Stark began before falling into a heap, unconscious

* * *

Tony was dragged to the medical bay by Rhodes and Rogers and they put him on a bed to let him rest after everything he's been through in the recent weeks. Bruce had given him a sedative as Pepper Potts was sitting by his side, never leaving him alone.

"How is he doing?" Peridot asked him, as Rhodey walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

"Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day." Rhodes explained.

It was when Carol Danvers finally spoke up, "You guys take care of him. And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back.''

"Where are you going?" Natasha asked her.

"To kill Thanos." Danvers simply replied, walking away from them.

Steve and Natasha shared a quick look with each other, wondering if she was serious or not, before following her, as Romanoff spoke up to her, "Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile."

''We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too." Rogers added.

"Besides." Garnet said as they glanced over at her, "I'm certain that going after him alone is pretty much a suicide to you."

"That's right. Listen, I want him dead as much as everyone else here does, but you shouldn't underestimate the power of all of the Infinity Stones." Azurite agreed with the fusion.

''You even know where he is?" Rhodes then asked Captain Marvel.

"I know people who might." Danvers answered.

"It would be actually quite nice if they knew, because we weren't able to track him down even with the help of Homeworld's best technology." Shi'ra stated.

''Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is." Everyone turned to the source of the voice and saw Nebula who was standing in the back since she arrived in here. Every eye was on the cyborg as she walked over to the table, sliding away the hologram of Earth, and tapping in the coordinates of a new planet, and suddenly a completely new planet came into their view, "Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask "where would we go once his plan was complete?". His answer was always the same: "To the Garden."

"That's cute. Thanos has a retirement plan." Rhodes stated, sarcastically.

"Everyone has one, I guess." Amethyst stated.

''So where is he?" Captain America asked.

''When Thanos snapped his fingers..." Rocket began as he hopped on the table, gesturing towards this new planet, "Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago." A massive shockwave appeared on that new planet, "On this planet."

''Thanos is there." Nebula stated.

"And he used the stones again." Peridot observed. Thanos used the stones again so he still had them, but why did he had to use them again? That was the question that now wondered her.

''Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Banner protested.

''Look, he's still got the stones, so It's worth a try." Jasper stated.

''So let's get him... Use them to bring everyone back.'' Danvers stated.

Rhodes asked, "Just like that?"

Steve nodded, staring in the same hologram everyone else was, "Yeah, just like that."

"As long as he has the stones, I'm in." Azurite stated with Shi'ra nodding her head in agreement. If this was their chance to bring everyone back, then they had to try.

Natasha moved her head from one end of the table to the other as she stated, "Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try.''

Looking to so confident as everyone else was about this plan, Bruce Banner said, "If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?"

''Because before, you didn't have me." Carol Danvers was the one to answer.

"Hey, new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" Rhodes asked her, holding his hand out.

''There are a lot of other planets in the universe." Danvers stated, "And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."

Thor, who has been eating a snack all this time, lousily pushed his chair out and stood up and walked over to Carol. She looked behind at him. He held his hand up, and catched Stormbreaker as it flies over to him, missing Carol by inches. But she didn't even flinch. She instead just sent a quick smile at the God of Thunder that turned into a smirk.

Thor smiled at her, "I like this one."

Steve stared at the hologram, at the planet that was simply called "The Garden". The only place where Thanos and all six Infinity Stones were hiding. He clenched his fists, looking to everyone, and said.

"Let's go get this son of a bitch."

* * *

Everyone were strapped into the seats in the the Guardians' ship that was repaired by Rocket, Peridot, Shi'ra, Nebula and Azurite and ready to take them to Thanos' current location. Steve sat in one of the few seats, wearing his suit from the Winter Soldier situation four years ago. Natasha, Rhodes, Garnet and Jasper took the last seats, James was in his War Machine armor. Jasper was readying herself for another confrotation with the Mad Titan, even though her helmet was destroyed, she hoped that they were going to defeat him this time. She felt someone's hand on her shoulder as she turned to the person who owned it and saw Garnet, the fusion and the orange gem sharing a quick nod with each other. Amethyst, Azurite and Shi'ra all surrounded nearby seats and held on tightly to each one. Banner, Peridot and Nebula took the very front seats while Carol and Rocket took the main pilot chairs.

"Who here hasn't been to space?" Rocket asked aloud.

Although somewhat hesitant, Steve, Natasha, and Rhodes all raised their hands up. Danvers looked back at them, smiling humorously to their uncertain expressions.

''Why?" Rhodes asked.

Rocket stared at the three who raised their hands, ''You better not throw up on my ship."

Nebula looked down at the control pannel and announced, "Approaching jump in 3... 2... 1!"

The ship jumped forward into a wormhole, and Steve gripped his seat's armrests, practically pushed back into the chair as his eyes reflected the lights that traveled a million miles a second. Rhodes and Romanoff were doing the same, their seats armrests as if their life depended on it.

Once they reached their Jump Point, the ship stopped just above the planet. The people within the ship took as much time as they needed to readjust themselves, observe their surroundings, and ready up for the fight ahead. A world they knew only as "The Garden" was just ahead of them. The world where Thanos, and more importantly the gauntlet were currently staying

Carol Danvers was the first one to make her move. The vaccum on space wasn't doing anything to her as she hovered in front of the ship, "I'll head down for recon.''

As everyone watched her leave towards The Garden, they all began to prepare themselves for their hopefully the last confrotation with Thanos. Steve Rogers reached into his pocket and pulled out a very old compass. When he flipped it open, a smilling picture of Peggy Carter came into his view. His expression however, was something complete opposite, he was gazing painfully into her eyes, before closing the compass down, unable to face her.

''This is gonna work, Steve." Natasha assured him.

" I know it will." Rogers replied, pocketing the compass away, turning to Black Widow, ''Cause I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.''

Rogers, however, wasn't the only one that was gazing into something that reminded him of his beloved one. Azurite was doing the same. The gem was sitting on his seat, waiting for Danvers to return and inform them if Thanos had any forces with him or not, looking at Spinel's necklace.

"We're going to bring her back, brother. I promise." He heard Shi'ra voice tell him, as his sister put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, as she offered him a very small hopeful smile.

"We're going to bring _all _of them back." Azurite told his sister, referring to Orange Pearl, Quill, Mantis, Drax, Groot, Steven, Bismuth, Pearl and everyone else. They were going to bring them back, whatever it takes.

It was just a moment before Danvers appeared in the view of everyone in the ship, as she informed them, "No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It's just him."

"That's enough." Nebula stated.

On the Garden, Thanos walked past a scarecrow made of his own armor, walking among his crops. He crouched down a bit and he picked up a fruit before putting it in a sack. He slowly made his way over to his hut. He slowly sat down on a seat and started preparing every ingredient for his meal. A soup. While he was preparing it, he looked over at his reflection in the water. The entire left side of his face was burnt black with blisters.

Suddenly, Carol Danvers flied through the roof, knocking Thanos down, and grabbing his neck. Bruce in the Hulkbuster armor bursted from the ground, and grabbed Thanos' gauntlet arm. Thor flies in and slices off the Infinity Gauntlet. Rhodey flied into the hut, followed by Jasper and both of them grabbed Thanos by the other hand. The remaining crystal gems were the next, Garnet's own gauntlets were already on her fists, ready for whatever tricks the Mad Titan had under his sleeve, a few pieces of metal were flying behind Peridot as she was controlling them with her metal powers, and Amethyst whip was held tightly in her grip. They were followed by Azurite, Shi'ra and Rocket. The Kratai not only wielded her spear, but also her plasma caster rised up on her shoulder and aimed itself right at Thanos' forehead as Rocket had his gun aimed at him.

Captain America was the last one to walk in, with Natasha right behind him, staring murderously at Thanos. Rocket and Amethyst went over to the sliced off gauntlet, and kicked it over, as everyone saw that there were no stones in it.

"Guys..." Amethyst said, looking up from the gauntlet with horrified expression.

"Oh no." Rocket said, looking just as horrified as Amethyst.

"Where are they?" Steve asked Thanos where were the stones, but the Titan didn't answered to his question.

''Answer the question!" Danvers snapped, holding Thanos' neck even tighter.

"The universe required correction." The Titan began, "After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond _temptation_."

"You murdered trillions!" Banner shouted, as he punched Thanos, shoving into the floor.

"You should be grateful!" Thanos stated, looking up at the group as he received another punch from Banner.

"**Grateful!?**" Azurite spoke up, his eyes dark with hate for the Mad Titan, as he came over to him and looked at him straight in the eye, not caring that everyone's eyes were on him now, "You cleansed a planet where I finally felt accepted, twenty years ago, and now you wiped up half all living beings, someone I loved faded away in my arms! Her along with many people that I cared about are gone because of what you did and** I'm supposed to be grateful for that?**"

Thanos titled his head to the right, "What was the name of that planet?"

"Konoritos..." Azurite said through gritted teeth, wanting to strike him with his claws to make him wince in pain.

"Konoritos?..." Thanos asked as Azurite nodded his head in confirmation, "I _saved _this planet."

"Saved? We were all happy there, but then you came and ruined everything." Azurite pointed out, clenching his fists.

''I'm certain that you remember how everything was on that planet. Children were going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps. It was just a matter of time before this planet would collapse. I'm the one who stopped that. Do you know what's happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise." Thanos explained why in his point of view Konoritos was saved from destruction, "It was a _necessary _sacrifice."

Azurite was breathing heavilly in anger, resisting the urge to do something to him or even kill him, before he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned back to see Garnet, "Calm down, Azurite. He has to to tell us where the stones are."

The male gem just nodded his head at her, knowing that she's right, before taking a few steps away from Thanos, just a moment before Natasha asked, "Where are the stones?"

"Gone... reduced to atoms..." Thanos answered.

"You're lying!" Shi'ra shouted at Thanos, not believing in anything he said, with her plasma caster still aimed right at his forehead, ready to fire at him. The Kratai wanted to do it. She wanted to end his life. She wanted to see how the blast from her plasma caster would make a burn out a huge wound in his head, but she knew there was no time for that now. At first he had to tell them where are the stones.

"That's right! We know that you used them two days ago!" Jasper added, glaring at him.

"I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me, but the work is done. It always will be..." Thanos explained to them what happened to the stones as he sat himself a little straighter, facing everyone in his hut, "I am inevitable.''

"We have to tear this place down, he has to be lying." Rhodes said, beginning to panic.

"He's right. We need to look for the stones, they must be here somewhere." Peridot agreed with Rhodey, dropping every piece of metal that was held by her metal powers on the floor, as she started panicking as well that the stones may actually be destroyed and there was no way of bringing them back.

"My father is many things." Nebula spoke up, causing everyone to look at her, "A liar is not one of them."

Thanos glanced over at his daughter, "...Thank you daughter." Nebula looked down on the foor, as her father stated, "Perharps I treated you too harshly..."

Thor's face was filled with rage as he raised Stormbreaker, and before anyone could react or do something to stop him, he sliced the Mad Titan's head off. Thanos' limp body collapsed on the floor as Nebula wiped out some blood that splattered on her face. Thanos' head landed right before Azurite's legs. As he stared at the lifeless eyes of the Mad Titan's head, a conversation he had with Spinel in Little Homeworld a few months ago appeared in his mind.

_"I just want you to finally start coming out to the others. The only people you're talking with are me, Jasper and Shi'ra."_

_"You know when I'll finally start coming out? After I'll see Thanos' head laying before my feet!"_

The male gem could feel tears forming in his eyes as he stared at Thanos' head, wondering how he hadn't run out of tears yet. Orange Pearl, Quill, Mantis, Groot, Drax... Spinel, they were all gone, and they just lost the only way to bring them back. He wanted to see the Mad Titan dead more than anything, this wish was even bigger than the wish of acceptace for what he is he had a long time ago. He wanted to see his head laying before his feet, but this isn't how he wanted it to happen.

Everyone were staring at Thor in complete silence, until it was broken by Rocket, "What did you do?"

Thor, even though he had gotten his revenge on Thanos for everything he did to him was looking completely broken, he finally responded to Rocket's question in and a shaky and broken tone, "...I went for the head..."

The God of Thunder turned away Thanos' lifeless body and exited from the hut, into the shining sun while everyone else were having reacting to what just happened. Jasper gripped her fist in anger as she swung her fist at the nearest wall, making a huge hole in it as Natasha looked like she was seconds from breaking into tears, unlike Garnet who had already broken into tears that were streaming down her cheeks from all of her three eyes. Azurite pulled out Spinel's necklace again and looked it, knowing that there was no hope of bringing her, or anyone he cared about back, it was when he broke into tears, having no idea how many times he has cried in the last three weeks. Things weren't better with Shi'ra. The Kratai dropped her spear on the floor and walked over to her brother, embracing him tightly as they sobbed into each other shoulders.

Nebula kneeled down over her father's head and slowly moved over her hand to close his eyes.

It was over. The only hope they had to bring their friends and loved ones back was gone.

They truly lost...


	27. Era 4

Azurite sighed as he gazed through the front windows the Guardians ship as it was slowly approaching Beach City. Nebula and Rocket offered to take him, Garnet, Jasper, Shi'ra, Peridot and Amethyst back to Little Homeworld, and they accepted their offer. The Avengers were planning to keep the world from falling apart even more, and they were going to do their part by keeping everything in Homeworld from falling apart and more importantly all of them were wondering how they were going to tell them that Thanos destroyed the stones, which pretty much destroyed their only change of bringing everyone back.

When the ship finally landed in front of Little Homeworld, everyone could see a group consisting of Centi, Biggs Jasper, Orange Spodumene, Bixbite, Zebra Jasper, Cherry Quartz, Little Larimar, and some other Peridot that was unknown for some of them, but Peridot, Garnet and Amethyst knew who she was slowly approaching their ship. The hatch slowly lowered itself down and Azurite, Shi'ra, Garnet, Jasper, Peridot and Amethyst stepped out of the ship, with Nebula and Rocket walking behind them.

"Guys!" Centi's voice called over to them, coming over to them, "You're back!"

"We've been with the Avengers for over three weeks now, we felt like it's time to come back here." Garnet answered.

They all nodded their heads in understanding, before noticing that Jasper and Peridot came back with them. Lapis Lazuli didn't came back with them, but they knew they didn't had to ask them about what happened with her. Answer was pretty obvious to them. The group that had just arrived in Little Homeworld split up into small groups with the gems from Little Homeworld to have a talk with them, but all six of them knew that it just to prepare themselves to tell them the terrible news they brought with them.

Centi went to talk with Azurite, Shi'ra and Jasper, and the first thing she did was giving Jasper a quick hug, "It's good to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you too, Centi." Jasper said with a nod her head, offering her a small smile. Nebula and Rocket were staying in the background, not saying anything.

"I thought you were gone. Days were passing and you, Peridot and Lapis weren't coming back." Centi stated. "But I'm glad I was wrong."

''Shi'ra' ship was destroyed, and the Guardians' ship was in a bad shape. We were lucky that Danvers found us." Jasper explained, as Centi titled her head to the right, having no idea who was the person Jasper mentioned, but before she could ask her about it, Shi'ra spoke up.

"Centi, how are you doing with what happened recently?" The Kratai asked the former corrupted gem.

Centi looked down, "I'm trying to deal with that happened. This is what they would want me to do."

Shi'ra nodded her head in understanding, before asking her another question, "What about Terra. How is she doing?"

"She doesn't talk with anyone, stays in her room for most of the time. I tried to talk with her countless times but she tells me that she wants to be alone." Centi answered, letting her down. Terra was the only she had left from her crew and she wanted to talk with her, help her. It would be good for both of them.

Shi'ra put her hand on Centi's shoulder, comfortingly,"Give her time, she'll come out eventually, and when she'll do, she is going to need her captain."

"I know." Centi said, giving her a quick nod of her head in response, "I'm just worried about her."

"Oh, it's you..." Peridot spoke up, as she went over to the other Peridot, "Squaridot."

"Peridot." Squaridot, offering her fellow Peridot a quick nod of her head. She wasn't a fan of the nickname Steven gave her, but everyone just started using it, so she went along with it.

"I thought you were with Hessonite, Pyrope and Demantoid.'' Peridot asked her, rubbing the back of her head, trying to figure out what to say with her.

"Hessonite is gone. You may know what happened with her." Squaridot answered, as Peridot let out an 'Oh' in reponse, "I was staying with her because I was loyal to her, but with her now gone, there wasn't anything keeping me there."

"You decided to come here?" Peridot wanted to know.

"Yes. I heard one gem from the colony that I lived on was coming to stay here after what happened three weeks, then I thought to myself thaat I may give staying here a chance." Squaridot explained.

"Well, Steven..." Peridot stopped herself for a second at the mention of Steven. She let out a short sigh as she continued, "...He said that everyone is welcomed to stay here."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Squaridot said with a grateful nod of her head, "And if I don't like living here I can always leave and find some other place, right?"

"Of course." Peridot assured her.

"Shi'ra, Azurite!" Garnet's voice suddenly called over as the said gem and Kratai turned to the fusion and Amethyst, "We should head out to tell Blue Diamond now."

Azurite and Shi'ra just gave her a quick nod in response, bracing themselves for whichever way she is going to take it. When they came over to Garnet and Amethyst they heard Little Larimar ask them, "What do you have to tell Blue Diamond?"

"Peridot, Jasper, Rocket and Nebula are going to tell you all you need to know. All we can say to you is that we tracked Thanos down." Amethyst answered,

Azurite, Shi'ra, Garnet and Amethyst all turned away from the group of gems, and began making their way to the warp that was in the center of Little Homeworld which was going to take them to Homeworld.

As they were walking back, they could hear Zebra Jasper telling Peridot, Jasper, Rocket and Nebula, "You found him? That's great! We can now..." There was a small pause in what she was saying, probably when she noticed their grim expressions, "Guys?..."

"Did something happened?" Bixbite added.

Azurite, Shi'ra, Garnet and Amethyst all internally cringed at their question, knowing that they were going to receive another terrible news, as they made their way over to the warp pad and use it to warp themselves to Homeworld, right ot the throne room of the Diamonds. The first thing they saw there was Blue Diamond, sitting on her throne. Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl were standing by her side.

"Garnet, Amethyst, Azurite and Shi'ra, right?" She spoke up to them, a little uncertain about Shi'ra's name but the Kratai didn't said anything, so Blue Diamond assumed she got her name right, "If you're here, then I assume you came back to Little Homeworld."

"We've been with them for over three weeks, we thought that we should finally come back to our home. Rocket and Nebula gave us a lift." Amethyst told her.

"And we came here to inform you about something." Garnet added.

Blue Diamond titled her head to the right, "What is it?"

"We found Thanos and the stones..." Garnet began but Blue Diamond quickly cut her off, clearly rejoiced by the news.

"Your found Thanos and the stones? That's a great news! We should..." It seemed like it was first good news she has gotten in a few weeks, but she didn't knew the truth, yet. They had to tell her that the stones were destroyed.

"We already went to him." Azurite interrupted her.

"And killed him. One of the Avengers, Thor cut his head off." Shi'ra added. Both of them wanting to get over this as soon as possible.

"So it means you have the stones, right?" Blue Diamond wanted to know, now sounding a little uncertain when she noticed their expressions.

"No... He destroyed them, two days before we found him." Garnet answered.

Garnet didn't had to say more to Blue Diamond. This was enough for her. A spark of hope that she will see her fellow Diamonds, Steven and Spinel again was destroyed. She knew that she promised not to make anyone cry, but it was too much to take. Thanos, the man responsible for her fellow Diamonds, Steven and Spinel all dissolving into ash was gone, but they were gone too. Blue aura surrounded the room as Blue Diamond bursted into tears which was followed by Garnet, Amethyst, Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Shi'ra doing the same.

"Guys?" Azurite who surprisingly didn't broke into tears spoke up, looking around the throne room in confusion, "...Are you okay?''

"I'm fine, brother... but I have no idea why I started crying..." Shi'ra said, looking as much confused as Azurite.

The others in were confused as well, but their confusion was not direction to the fact that they started crying out of the sudden, it was towards Azurite.

"Azurite." Blue Pearl's quiet voice called over to him.

"Why aren't you crying?" Yellow Pearl added.

"What?" Azurite titled his head in the direction of two pearls, "What do you mean?"

"Azurite..." Blue Diamond said, putting her hand on her mouth in shock, "You poor thing..."

"Can you stop? The crying thing." Amethyst asked Blue Diamond.

"Oh...Sorry about that.'' Blue Diamond said, wiping her tears as everything in the room went back to normal, "It was just too much to take. When you said that you found, a spark of hope that we may bring them back grew in me.'' As the others remained silent, she added, "Now, can I talk with Azurite in private for a second?"

"What, why?" Azurite looked up at her.

Amethyst sighed, "We should go back to Little Homeworld, anyway."

"I'll join you as fast as I can." Azurite told her, Garnet and Shi'ra just a moment before they warped themselves back to Little Homeworld, and Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl left the throne room, leaving him alone with Blue Diamond, "What is it that you want from me?"

"Can you sit down on the stairs?" Blue Diamond asked him, in a more of a pleading tone.

Azurite raised his brow, but eventually sat down on a set of chairs that were leading to her throne. Blue Diamond stood up from her throne and sat next to him, before asking him, "May I ask you about Spinel's last moments?"

"...What?" Azurite asked, wanting to be sure if he didn't misheard it.

"I already asked Garnet and Amethyst about Steven's last moment when they were informing me about what happened three weeks ago, and I'd like to know how Spinel's last moments looked like. Of course if you'll able to tell me." Blue Diamond told him.

Azurite sighed. He despised all of the Diamonds, and that included her too, but Spinel cared about them, and she'd want him to tell her. If he doesn't want to do it for Blue Diamond, he could at least do it for Spinel. He bits his lips as he started to tell her what happened, "It all started when we rised from the ground after failing to stop Thanos, and saw how a Ruby guard faded away, which was qickly followed us witnessing that happen to Orange Pearl and Groot of the Guardians of the Galaxy..." A small pause, "...and after seeing Steven share the same fate, I turned to Spinel, and saw her hand dissolving, fading away alongside the air. I grabbed her and set her down on the ground, knowing that I was powerless to stop it. She faded away in my arms, and you know what she was doing? She wasn't telling me that she doesn't want to go or to stop it from happening to her, she was telling me not to worry about her and was trying to cheer me up, to make me smile one last time..."

"It sounds exactly like something she'd do." For the first time since Thanos' snap, Blue Diamond brought herself to smile, but it was a very small one, almost unnoticeable, "Azurite, I know that you despise me, and that you despised White Diamond and Yellow Diamond and that my words will probably mean nothing to you, but we all noticed one thing about Spinel when we came to Earth to visit her and Steven. She was happy with you and she cared about you.''

Azurite gave her a quick nod in response as he looked up at her, "I should go now.'

Blue Diamond gave quick nod of her head, "Thank you for telling me this Azurite. I know it wasn't easy for you to tell me about this terrible memory."

Azurite sighed as he stood up from the stairs and began to move to the warp pad, "It doesn't change anything between us. I just did what Spinel would want me to do."

Blue Diamond let out a sigh as well as she rised up from the stairs as well, as Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl walked back into the throne room, "Pearls, If the stones are gone, I think we should start preparations."

"Preparations? For what?" Azurite raised his brow, as Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl nodded their heads at what the last of the Diamonds just said.

"For Era 4." was Blue Diamonds reply.

* * *

_2 days later_

Everyone were slowly arriving on the beach in Beach City.

Azurite and Shi'ra were among of the groups of the gems that were leaving Little Homeworld. A lanterns were in their hands, Azurite holding a lantern with Spinel's name and Shi'ra holding a lantern with Orange Pearl's name. Jasper was walking with them, not holding any lantern, but was coming with them to her respect for everyone that lost their life in Thanos' snap.

They were quickly joined by Centi. The green gem offered them a quick nod of her as she was holding a lantern with the names of most of her crew written on it. Terra stood by her side, Centi finally conviced her to leave her room, a lantern with Cotta's name was in her hands. The group of five just walked by each other side, not saying anything to each other.

Garnet, Amethyst and Peridot were leading the group from Little Homeworld, as the place where they were planning to meet with everyone appeared in everyone's view. The fusion, purple gem, and green gem meeting Greg in a short hug. Connie's parent were standing next to him, both of them offering the gems silent nods of their heads.

Blue Diamond was the last one to arrive, her hand just like most of the humans and gems here was holdng a lantern, with the names of White Diamond and Yellow Diamond inscripted on it. Azurite could also see Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl by her side, the latter one holding a lantern with Pink Pearl's name written on it.

They stood among the dozens, families and group of friends split in half and missing key members as the first lanterns were ignited and let into the sky. Greg stared tearfully to the name of his son, Steven written on the lantern he wielded, then he released it into the sky, which was followed by Connie's parents doing the same with the lantern with their daughters name. Azurite his lantern a quick kiss before igniting it as well and realising it into the sky. Shi'ra and Jasper lowered their heads, paying their respects for Orange Pearl as the Kratai's lantern joined many others in the sky, which was quickly followed by Centi and Terra doing the same with theirs. The two nephrites wrapping their arms around each other, mourning everyone they lost. Garnet was glancing down at the lantern with Pearl's name, Amethyst's at the one with Bismuth's name and Peridot at the one with Lapis' name before they also released them into the sky.

Everyone were gazing at the dozens of lanterns litting up the darkened sky of the night. Some of their eyes were brimmed with tears.

Era 4, the Mad Titan's era has officialy begun.

* * *

_1 week later_

Quick breaths were leaving Azurite's mouth as he was swinging his fists around at the invisible target. He was currently having a training session where he used to train with Orange Pearl before Thanos' snap. He didn't knew for how long his todays training session lasted, but he honestly didn't care.

He had to stop when his device on his hands uddenly opened and a familiar person appeared on the screen, then a voice spoke up, "Az, are you there buddy?"

"Jon?" Azurite asked, wanting to be sure if this was who he thought it was as the person nodded his head, confirming that he was indeed Jon Whitebound, "What do you want for me? I thought I told that I quit this job."

"I'm not here to offer you a job, I'm just checking if my friend is alright." Jon simply replied, Azurite failing notice the depression in his tone.

"We're not friends, Jon." Azurite said with a quick shook of his head.

"_We're not friends._ You always thought like that about me and my brother, but we always liked you. You were always getting your job done and you were always making..." Jon began.

Azurite just decided to sit through this in silence, as Jon continued to say something to him. It was until he noticed something off about this talk between him and one of the people who used to give him contracts back when he was working as a mercenary. In all of the talks he had with them through his device was with _three _of the brothers, but now there was just one. It was when he noticed another thing about Jon. Everytime when he talked with him, Job always had that cocky smile on his face, but now he looked more depressed, like a complete opposite of his former self.

"Wait a second Jon... What happened with your brothers? Where's Robb and Rickon?" He asked him, interrupting him in whatever he was saying.

Jon let out a sigh, before replying, "They're gone. They fell apart into ash right in front me. They and half of our tribe did."

"Oh..." Azurite said, dropping his head down. If there was no thing that he liked about these bandit brothers was the brotherly love they had for each other. He wasn't a fan of Jon Whitebound, but now he was just another victim of Thanos' snap and he felt like he needed to be nice to him, despise not being a huge fan of him, "I'm sorry to hear that... I know how much you cared for each other."

Jon chuckled, before stating, "Your attitude has suddenly changed."

"Because at first, I thought..." Azurite tried to say, but was interrupted.

"It's alright. I understand, you thought I was trying to offer you a job." Jon told him, crossing his arms, "I just wanted to know how many people I considered a friend dissolved away."

"As you can see I survived." Azurite said, dropping his head down.

"I can see that you lost someone too, when you informed me, Robb and Rickon that you're quiting your job as a mercenary because you found yourself a place to live you actually looked happy, but now, you look far from it..." Jon said, before a realization appeared in his mind, "Did that friend of yours Shi'ra..."

"No, she made it out alive..." Azurite told him, with a shook of his head, "It's just I lost many people I considered a friend... I don't want to talk about it."

Jon nodded his head in understanding, "I understand, there are a few people in my tribe that lost someone they cared about and don't want to talk about it."

"What are you doing to do now, Jon?" Azurite asked him.

"I'm going to lead my bandit tribe. We have some tough days ahead of us but I will make sure that we'll get through this. It will be something Robb and Rickon would want me to do." Jon explained, to which Azurite just nodded his head in understanding, "What about you?"

"I'll stay where am I now." Azurite answered.

Jon nodded his head to that, "And try to move on?"

"You can say that." Azurite replied.

"This is something I'll try to do too, but I don't think I'm going to be able to move on." Jon stated. For as long as he could remember, he, Robb and Rickon were always together, now their bandit tribe was all he had left, "Azurite, I know that you think of me as a cocky bandit, and I can't really blame you for thinking about me like that, because it's not that far from truth, but if you ever need someone to talk to, or if you will ever need my help in something, just call me."

Azurite nodded his head, "I'll keep that in mind.''

"After all there were many situations where you helped us." Jon stated.

"Well, because you were paying me to do this. This is what happens when you are in a need of units." Azurite pointed out.

"If you say so." Jon chuckled, "This may be one of the most friendliest talk we had with each other."

Azurite gave a small smile in return, finding this statement to be true, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, I gotta go. We'll talk later." Jon said, giving him a little wave, before Azurite's device closed down, telling him that the talk between them was over.

The male stretched his arms and was about to return his training when he heard someone say, "Well, he stopped talking with him."

"I guess we should talk with him now." The other voice added.

Azurite turned to the source of the voice and saw two gems heading his gem. A jasper and an agate. It didn't took him long to recognize these two. Their names were Yellow Jasper and Purple Agate, they were one of the gems that he came across back a few thousand years ago back when he was living on Homeworld. They were one of the gems which made him avoid the gems as best as he could after coming out of his ship.

"Hey, Azurite." Purple Agate greeted him, awkwardly.

"You probably don't remember us." Yellow Jasper added.

"I do. You're Yellow Jasper." Azurite quickly responded before turning his attention to the other gem, "And you're Purple Agate, it's been quite a while you two." He told them before turning away from them, "And now if you excuse, I'd like to go back..."

"Wait!" Purple Agate said, putting her hand on his shoulder, "We just want to talk with you."

"Fine." Azurite sighed as he turned back to them, "Who told you that I'm here?"

"Your Kratai friend." Purple Agate answered.

"She's not my friend, she is my sister." Azurite corrected them, crossing his arms, "Another question. How did you knew that I was living in Little Homeworld."

"We saw you on the broadcast, when you and Steven informed us about Thanos. We event went to help you fight his forces in..." Yellow Jasper stopped herself in the middle of the sentence, not remembering the name of the place where they thought fought off Thanos.

"Wakanda." Azurite told her, suprised that these two were there. He didn't saw them anywhere on that day. It was maybe because he was too busy fighting off hordes of Outriders.

"Right, Wakanda, and after that happened, you mean what I mean by that, we went back to our colony..." Yellow Jasper was cut off by Azurite.

"Colony? Weren't you living on Homeworld?" Azurite raised his brow.

"We moved to one colony, about 100 years ago." Yellow Jasper answered.

"Oh." Azurite said in response to it, as he asked another question, "Why are you here?"

"One of the reasons why we came here is because we want to apologize to you." Yellow Jasper informed him as Azurite titled his head to the left.

"Just as she said. The way we treated you on Homeworld all those years ago was wrong. We're not excepting you to forgive us, but we just want you know that we're sorry." Purple Agate.

"...Okay." Azurite simply said.

"Okay? That's all you have to say to us?" Yellow Jasper raised her brow.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head.

Purple Agate sighed, "Listen, Azurite. We don't except you to forgive us, but we just wanted to tell you this."

They received another nod from Azurite, this time he didn't said anything, as Yellow Jasper added, "I think we should go now, but there's someone we want you to meet."

"Meet? Who?" Azurite asked, as Yellow Jasper and Purple Agate made a space between them and two other gems came into his view. Both of them were dark blue and looked very similiar to each other. The only thing that actually distinguished them was their hair colour, as the one on the left had shorter one than the one on the right. The other thing he noticed about themis that they were azurites, just like him. It was the first time in his life when he met gems who are the same gem type as he.

"We leave you alone, now." Purple Agate said, before heading off with Yellow Jasper, leaving Azurite alone with these two other azurites.

As Purple Agate and Yellow Jasper left them, a very awkward silence filled the place, neither Azurite, and other two azurites knew what to say to each other, before he spoke up to them, "You're both Azurites, like me."

This made the situation even more awkward, and caused another silence between them before thw azurite with shorter hair said, "This is so awkward."

"Yeah.'' Her friend agreed with her.

"So, do you have nicknames, or what? Because if all of our three are azurites, then we should, you know." Azurite asked them.

"Well, we actually haves ones already." Azurite with shorter hair told him.

"How should I call you then?" Azurite wanted to know.

"You may call me Rose." The one with longer hair answered.

"And I'm shorty." The one with shorter hair added.

"Shorty?" Azurite asked Shorty, wondering why it was her nickname.

Shorty pointed at her short hair in response, "That's why."

"Oh." Azurite said in response, it had enough sense, as he turned his attention to Rose, "And you. Why Rose?"

"When a friend of ours came back to our colony after paying a small visit to Earth, she brought a flower with herself. It was Red Rose, and I just liked it and when we were picking nicknames for each other I choose Rose." Rose explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What about you?" Short asked Azurite.

"Well, for most of my life, I was the only azurite around, so I never really needed a nickname, but there were some people that called me Az. I guess you can call me like that." Azurite said, earning nods from both of them, "So, may I ask why have you come here?"

Rose sighed sadly, lowering her head, "Back on our colony, there was a group of us, but we're the only ones left now. We saw you on the brodcast on which you and Steven told us about this Thanos. After Era 4 begun, Yellow Jasper and Purple Agate offered to take us to you."

"I'm sorry to hear what happened to your group." Azurite told them, offering them a small bow of his head.

"We're sorry for you loss too." Shorty said to him.

"What?" Azurite asked her, confused. How did she know, "How do you..."

"Your bracelet." Shorty said, gesturing towards Spinel's necklace which Azurite turned into a bracelet, "I may be wrong, but you didn't have it on your arm on the broadcast."

Azurite glanced down at his bracelet, "You are perceptive, Shorty."

"I get that a lot." Shorty stated with a nod of her head.

"...Az, do you want to do something?' Rose asked him,

"What?" Azurite raised his brow as the sudden question.

"Well, I think we all should get to know each other.'' Rose replied, glancing down at the ground.

Azurite rubbed the back of his head, "Well, if you want to, but what should we do?"

"Well..." Shorty joined in this conversation about what they should do now, "We saw you train, before this guy called you. It looked like you know something about fighting."

"You were watching me for longer than just my talk with Whitebound?" Azurite asked, crossing his arms.

"Just for a second!" Shorty defended herself and Rose.

"_It looked like you know something about fighting._ _If you only saw how I easily got myself beaten by Proxima Midnight._" Azurite thought to himself, still cursing himself for letting his desire for revenge and his hatred towards this woman take the full control o fhis body which almost got him and his friends killed, "I can show you some basics if you want to."

Rose gave him a small smile, "Thanks, Az."

"When do we begin?" Shorty wanted to know.

"We can start now." Azurite responded.

Rose and Shorty nodded their heads to this, as the latter one said, "What should we do now?"

Azurite pointed at Rose, "Rose, c'mere." Rose nodded her head as she walked closer to him, "Attack me."

"What?" Rose asked, suprised by the sudden request.

"You want me to show you some basics, c'mon, punch me." Azurite repeated his request.

Although at first hesitant, Rose swung her fist at him, which Azurite easily ducked and answered to it with his own punch, that knocked her on the ground, earning a gasp from Shorty.

"Lesson number one. Get used to the pain because he will accompany you throughout most of our lessons." Azurite told them.

Rose nodded her head in understanding as she stood up from the ground. He gestured to Shorty to join her, who did as she told to and joined her fellow azurite by her side.

It was when a certain feeling filled his body. A feeling that he had done this before.

A second later a realization hit him. Everything he was saying to Rose and Shorty, those were the same words he said to Orange Pearl when he started training her on the day when Spinel finally made him come out Little Homeworld.

He felt like he was going to have these kinds of feelings for the next few weeks, or even months.

He will have to get used to them...


	28. 5 years later

_5 years later_

Natasha Romanoff sat alone in the living room, her long was touching her shoulders as she stared at the various holograms standing in front of her. Among the holograms, those participating were James Rhodes, Okoye, Garnet, Azurite, Peridot Captain Marvel, Nebula, and Rocket Raccoon. The two of the Guardians of the Galaxy were off world, along with Carol Danvers, helping the planets that suffered as much as Earth and Homeworld did because of what happened five years ago. Azurite, Garnet and Peridot were in Little Homeworld, Amethyst, Shi'ra and Jasper weren't present with them as they along with a few other gems went to take care of one Lapis Lazuli that was causing troubles for quite some time now. Rhodes mentioned he was somewhere in D.C., helping to solve some sort of refugee crisis that had recently broken out, and Okoye was streaming right from Wakanda.

''Yeah, we boarded that highly suspect warship Danvers pinged.." Rocket started,

"It was an infectious garbage scowl." Nebula added.

"So, thanks for the hot tip." Rocket turned to Danvers with a smirk.

''Well, you were closer." Carol pointed out.

''Yeah." Rocket growled, "And now we smell like garbage.''

Natasha turned to Okoye, ''You get a reading on those tremors?''

''It was a mild subduction under the African plate.'' Okoye reported.

''Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?" Nat asked.

"Nat, it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it.'' Okoye anwered, staring at Natasha.

"Sometimes nothing is the best thing you can do." Garnet stated, to which Okoye nodded her head in agreement.

"What about you guys? How's the situation on Homeworld?" Natasha asked the gems.

''The situation is pretty stable. We have some problems, like some gems that are causing troubles, but other than that, as I stated just a moment ago the situation is pretty stable." Azurite answered, to which Peridot and Garnet nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's why Amethyst, Jasper and Shi'ra are not here with this at the moment. They went to take care of a gem that was causing troubles for quite some time now" Peridot added as the others nodded their heads in understanding.

Natasha turned to Carol, "Carol, are we seeing you here next month?

"Not likely." Danvers reponded with a shook of her head.

''What, you gonna get another haircut?" Rocket snorted, gesturing towards Carol's new tomboyish haircrut.

"Didn't you had enough changes through these few years?" Peridot pointed out.

"Listen fur-face." Danvers said to Rocket, before turning to Peridot, "And you gem-face. I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth, are happening everywhere, on thousands of planets.''

''All right, all right, that's a good point. That's a good point." Rocket muttered to himself.

Carol turned her attention backt to Natasha, ''So you might not see me for a long time_.''_

''Alright.'' Natasha stated, "Uh, well. This channel is always active. So, if anything goes sideways... anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't... comes through me."_  
_

Okoye agreed in her language.

''Okay." Rocket agreed.

"Yes." Garnet agreed with Peridot and Azurite nodding their heads.

With that Peridot pressed a button which ended their talk with the others. The talks between them and others became a very regular thing, especially in the first months after Thanos' victory. They were many situation where they had to leave to help something with Rocket, Nebula or even Danvers, or to take care of the problems gems were causing.

It was when they heard the door open, which told them one thing. That the group that went to take care of a Lapis Lazuli that's been causing problems for a while now. Jasper, Amethyst and Shi'ra were walking in the front as Biggs Jasper, Army and Eyeball were walking closely behind them. Army and Eyeball were one of the gems that started living in Little Homeworld after Thanos' snap.

"How did it go?" Peridot asked, even though the expressions they had already told her the answer.

"Just as you can except, Peri." Amethyst answered.

"We tried to talk her down for I don't know which time, she refused to listen again, then we started fighting with her for which time I don't knew neither, the she just flied off and left us alone." Shi'ra explained.

"I really want to know if the other Lapis would be such a pain as this one is." Amethyst said.

"We probably never going to find out." Jasper stated.

Amethyst sighed, "Yeah, you're right, sis."

''Anything happened while we were gone?" Shi'ra wanted to know.

"Nothing much. We had another one of the talks with the others." Peridot answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What about them?" Amethyst asked about if the others had any problems to deal with.

"Some sort of an earthquake under the ocean is in Wakanda, but they're going to handle it by not handling it, Rhodey is helping with something in D.C, Danvers may be gone for a while because she is helping other planets, Rocket and Nebula checked the warship that turned out to be a garbage scowl, so nothing that dangerous that would require us to do something." Peridot explained

"At least that's some good news." Biggs stated from the back of the group.

"Is there anything else we have to do today?" Shi'ra wanted to know.

"No, sis. Your mission with that Lapis was the only thing we had for today." Azurite answered.

"That's good. I could eat something." Shi'ra stated, "I haven't eaten anything today because of this mission."

"That's actually a good idea. This mission was a very stressful one, I could eat something." Amethyst said, liking Shi'ra's idea, as she turned around to Jasper, "Sis?"

Jasper shrugged her shoulders, not really having anything to do now, "Why not."

Amethyst turned to Biggs, Army and Eyeball, "Guys?"

Army and Eyeball shook their heads as Biggs nodded her head, "I can tag along."

With that said, the group that just returned from a mission made their way over to the exit and headed out. Amethyst, Jasper, Shi'ra and Biggs went to eat something while Army and Eyeball went to do their own thing.

"I think I should head out too. I was working with Tony on a project for the past month. We're actually close to finishing it." Peridot to which Garnet nodded her head in understanding. Tony and Peridot actually became close friends over these past five years, and were paying each other visit from time to time.

"What's that?" Azurite asked.

"You'll find out when you'll see it." Peridot responded as she walked out of the room to talk with Tony about their recent project.

Azurite glanced over at the clock, "I have to go too, the training is starting in a few minutes."

Garnet nodded her head to that, as Azurite slowly left the room as well, leaving her alone. The fusion sighed as she looked over at the picture of her, Steven, Amethyst and Pearl, her attention was mostly focused on the ones that didn't made it out alive from Thanos' snap.

* * *

Amethyst, Shi'ra, Jasper, and Biggs already left Little Homeworld and were now walking along the sidewalk, trying to figure out where to eat. They didn't had much to choose from so they eventually decided to go to Fish Stew Pizza. They took their seat as Nephrite walked over to their table to take their order. With Green Larimar gone, Nephrite was left take the orders and give out the food.

When they gave her their orders, Nephrite went over to Kiki and Bixbite to tell them what they ordered. With Kofi gone, Kiki was the one who was left in charge of this place.

"Hey guys." All four of them turned to the source of the voice and saw Orange Spodumene, Zebra Jasper, Little Larimar and Crazy Lace Agate walking into this place.

"Oh, hey." Shi'ra greeted them as the group of four gems approached their table.

"What are you doing here?" Biggs raised her brow.

"We saw you coming into this place so we thought we stop by and greet you after you returned for this mission ." Orange Spodumene answered.

"And ask you about it." Larimar added.

Amethyst, Jasper, Shi'ra and Biggs all shared a look with each other, as the purple gem spoke up to the group that just approached them, "If you want to hear about it, then move your seats to this table."

The four gems did as they were told to. They grabbed the chairs from the nearest table and pushed them over to one where three gems and one Kratai sat at, as Crazy Lace asked them, "So, how did it go?"

"You know the usual." Amethyst started, "We warped ourselves to the planet where she was causing trouble, and it went down from there."

"We started off as our any other meeting with her did. We tried to talk her out of being a pain that she was for us for these five years, even though it seemed pointless to us, and we found ourselves to be wrong. She asked us if we're done and started fighting with us." Shi'ra continued, annoyance because of what happened on this mission.

"The fight went on as any other fight, minus the part where Jasper was threw into a rocky wall. Thanks the stars it didn't damaged her gem." Biggs said, turning to Jasper.

"The Power Stone threw me into Shi'ra's ship while I was charging on Thanos and my gem made it out without a single scratch on gem, though I can't say the same about my helmet." Jasper stated. Good thing they made her a new helmet, "After that she just flied off and we probably are going to hear about her again in a week or two."

"Some gems just don't want to change." Orange Spodumene stated, "Even after what happened."

"Some people just don't want to change. You'd suprised how universe is filled with people like her." Shi'ra said to Spodumene.

"It's kind of suprising that even I managed to change, and yet there are still people like her. Even here on Earth people started to fight over things after Thanos snapped." Jasper pointed out.

"Sis, what do you mean by "Even I"?" Amethyst asked her.

''You exactly know what I mean by that. I did many terrible things in my life, like Malachite, or trying to hurt you on numerous occasions, and honestly after I finally decided to try living on this planet, I was still, well, you know who, one of the first things I said to Azurite was call him a defect, but as the time passed I became someone else, someone better. I found friends that care about me, I found family." Jasper said.

Shi'ra smiled, she could see that smiles grew on the faces of the rest as well, "Family? I'm glad you think about me like that.''

"Why shouldn't I? You guys are my family." Jasper pointed out, smilling back.

Shi'ra shrugged her shoulders with her smile not leaving her face, as she turned to Amethyst, "I guess we should go back to the original topic.''

Amethyst nodded her head, the smile that grew on her face because of what Jasper just said not leaving her face, Then we want back to Little Homeworld, told Azurite, Garnet and Peridot about and went here to eat something. As for them, they all probably went to do their own things, Peri came out just a few second after we did, so she told us what she was planning to do. She was going to talk with Stark about the project they've been working at for the past month."

"Who would have known that she'd become friends with him." Zebra Jasper stated.

"Well, when you're stuck in a ship, drifting aimlessly through space for three weeks." Jasper pointed out.

"If that's true then why you're not with her now?" Crazy Lace asked her.

"They're both the brains. I'd say that I was more more with Nebula than him for these three weeks." Jasper pointed out.

"I wonder what is the project that Peridot is working on with Stark." Little Larimar wondered.

''We asked her the same thing about it. She told that we will have to wait, but one thing is for sure. She seemed pretty excited about it." Biggs stated.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Zebra Jasper stated, earning nods from everyone.

Nephrite finally came out of the kitchen, holding two trays with pizzas, and she was followed by Bixbite who had the other two trays. They put them on the table and asked Spodumene, Crazy Lace, Zebra Jasper, and Little Larimar if they wanted to eat something but the politely declined, saying that they just wanted to talk with Amethyst, Jasper, Biggs and Shi'ra about their mission, before going back to the kitchen.

"Well guys, let's dig in." Shi'ra said, eyeing her meal but Amethyst already dug into her food.

* * *

Azurite leaned against the wall with crossed arms, watching how a few pairs of gems were sparring with each other. As the time passed, Shorty and Rose eventually got a word out that if there a gem that is interested in hand-in-hand combat then they knew someone who could teach them about it, and gems eventually started coming. Azurite didn't mind it at all. It was one the things that helped him to forget even just for a second after everything that happened five years ago. Shorty and Rose became something like foster teachers who were taking his place as a teacher when he was busy with something.

"Want to talk?" A familiar voice said to him as he turned in the direction of it and saw Centi approaching him.

Azurite gave his friend a small smile, "With you? Always.''

Centi leaned against the wall by side, watching over the sparring gems, "Another one of your trainings?"

"As you can see." Azurite said.

''Are Jasper, Shi'ra, Amethyst are others back from you know what?" Centi wanted to know.

"Yup. It went just as think it went." Azurite answered.

Centi sighed. It really amazed her how stubborn some gems could be, even after what happened, what _he_ has done, "...How are your students?"

"They're improving as you can see. Some of them still have a lot to learn, but it's fine." Azurite said, as he glanced over at Shorty and Rose who were having a chat in the background, and offered them a quick nod to which they nodded back, "These two were helping me a lot in these training."

"Good thing these two gems introduced you to each other. It's always good to know some gems who are the same gem type as you, despise being you know." Centi stated.

"Speaking of the same gem types, how is Terra doing?" Azurite asked the green gem about her crewmate.

"She's been getting a lot better, but you know that already. She should be now at another one of the meeting of support group in Beach City." Centi pointed out. Around a month after Thanos snapped, a support group was made for humans and gems alike who lost someone close to them. Many people and gems were attending it in the first months, Greg, Sour Cream, Yellowtail, Buck, Earth Beetle, Terra, Centi, Amethyst, Garnet, Peedee, were only a few of people and gems that were attending them. Some of them like Greg, or Peedee, or Terra were still attending those meetings. Even he attended a few of them at the start, but as the time passed he just stopped coming, thinking he had no need of that anymore.

Azurite sighed, ''That's good. I and her we never were close friends, our relation is pretty much just a friend of a friend I talked with once in a while, but seeing her for the first time the snap on the day when Era 4 started was just painful."

"It pained you and you barely even know her, just think how much it pained me as her captain..." Centi paused for a second, "Seeing her being much better now is one of the best things I've seen during those five years."

"You're her captain. It's obvious that you're happy that she's doing better now." Azurite pointed out.

"I know that." Centi said with a nod of her head, "I like coming here to talk, at least I have some..."

"If you come here because you don't have much to do, then you know you can always sign up and we can teach you some basics?" Azurite interrupted her, knowing what she was going to say.

Centi chuckled and shook her head, "Me? In your training group, sorry but that's no for me. You already know that I prefer to use a blade or a spear, instead of my fists."

"Okay, your loss." Azurite shrugged his shoulders.

"Besides, I don't only come here when I don't have anything to do. Shi'ra and Jasper are often here with you, and the four of us talking in our free time, while not being on a mission because someone is causing trouble or there a problem that requires our help... It just feels nice." Centi explained.

"Just the four of us." Azurite said.

"Yes. It feels like before Thanos snapped, plus you, a gem that is often so calm behaving as a stern teacher is funny to watch." Centi said, smile growing on her face at the last part.

"I know. Shi'ra likes to tease me about it." Azurite stated.

"Don't blame us. It's just funny to us." Centi said.

"It certainly is." A familiar voice came from their side as they turned around and saw Garnet approaching them.

"Garnet." Centi greeted her, offering a quick nod of her head to the fusion.

"What are you doing here?" Azurite raised his brow as Garnet approached them.

"You all just went to do to your own thing. I was left alone and you were the closest one out all of them." Garnet explained.

"What about Peridot?" Azurite asked her.

"She's probably now busy talking with Tony about this project she told us about. I don't want to interrupt them." Garnet answered.

"Project? What project?" Centi asked, hearing about it for the first time.

"She didn't told us. She wants it to be a suprise, or something like that." Azurite explained.

"Oh." Centi said in response.

The three of them just stood there, watching the sparring gems in silence, or listening when Azurite was correcting someone who made a mistake, but overally this is a really awkward silence which was broken when Azurite spoke up to them.

"...You know something, both of you? I keep telling everyone that they should move on from what happened all these years ago, and the ones who were living in Little Homeworld before Thanos' snap know how much I've been fearing the scenario of Thanos succeeding." Azurite started, staring down at the ground, "I keep telling myself that I moved on, but inside, I just know that I'm lying to them, and more importantly myself..."

The fusion and former corrupted gem were just listening to everything he was saying, until Garnet reached her hand out and offered Azurite a quick pat on his back.

Centi saw Azurite lifting his hand to have a quick look on a bracelet made of Spinel's necklace, and asked a question that seemed pretty obvious to her, "Do you still think about it?"

"What kind of question is it, Centi?" Azurite asked his friend as Centi remained silent, "Of course I do. Sometimes I can still see her dissolving in my arms, just a moment after we saw Orange and Groot shatter into dust..."

Garnet and Centi cringed at that, mostly because they both were dealing with the same thing. There were moments where Centi still could see her crew fade away into dust while Garnet, even though she was unfused into Ruby and Sapphire at the time still could see Steven breaking apart piece by piece in their hands.

"And to think that I was so naive..." He continued as Garnet and Centi listened to everything he had to say to them, "On the New Year, when I and Spinel go together and fused into Lolite for the first time, when we shared a drink with Shi'ra alcohol, when we watched fireworks, or even when Spinel dragged me to the dancefloor and I was so terrified because I had no idea how to dance, I finally felt whole again, I finally felt like I had a family again. I could forget about him and actually enjoy my life. I haven't felt like that since Konoritos, which was something I'll never thought I feel again. I thought I found new family to which nothing is going to happen...but then you know what happened..."

Garnet and Centi could see a tear falling down his cheek, as the fusion reached out her hand again and gave him another comforting pat on his back, "Azurite, no matter what happened on that day, we are all family here, and that includes you too.''

Azurite sent Garnet a grateful smile, to which the fusion offered a quick smile in return. Centi doing the same, as she gave him a pat on his back herself.

"Azurite! Garnet!" All three of them turned in the direction the voice and saw Squaridot slowly approaching them.

"What is it, Squaridot?" Garnet asked her.

"Peridot told me to find you and tell you that these two Avengers want to talk with you about something. This is really urgent she said." Squaridot explained.

"Why? We just talked with Natasha." Azurite said, sending Squaridot a confused glance in response.

"Something new must've happened." Garnet stated.

"You're probably right about that." Azurite agreed with her.

"Thank you for telling us, Squaridot." Garnet thanked Squaridot for informing them about it.

Squaridot nodded her head in response, before heading off to do her own thing, as Azurite and Garnet looked over at Centi, "Thanks for the talk, Centi."

"Anytime." Centi said with a small smile on her face.

"Let's see what they want." Garnet said to Azurite, earning a nod from him.

"Rose! Shorty!" He called over his fellow Azurites, as they turned over to him, "I have to go! Can you take over while I'll be gone?"

"Sure thing, Az." Rose said, giving her fellow Azurite a thumbs up, with Shorty nodding her head in agreement.

Azurite and Garnet all turned around and walked out of the traning place towards the house in Little Homeworld that was something like their main place of operations. On their way they were joined by Shi'ra, Jasper and Amethyst who told them that they were called over for the same reason. Upon reaching this place, they saw Peridot standing in front of a hologram that was showing Natasha and Steve was standing in front of them, but there was one more person standing by the sides of the two Avengers. All of them recognized him as Scott Lang, but the thing that confused them was the fact that he was confirmed to be one of those that died in Thanos' snap.


	29. Ant-Man

_Earlier_

If Scott Lang only could mentally keep time, he could only assume for how long he had been trapped in the Quantum Realm, for him it was several hours, but was it was probably much less than that. He glanced down at the watch on the forearm of his Ant-Man suit. It still kept the track of the time, despise being traversed to a completely new world

It told him that he had been wandering through the Quantum Realm for five hours. Five hours that felt like much more to him.

As those hours were passing, he simply walked, looking at the majesty of the Quantum Realm. He tried to contact Hope, Hank and Janet on the other side, countless times, but everytime, silence was the only thing was getting from them in response. He wondered how Janet could survive thirty years in the Quantum Realm, alone. He had been here for only five hours, and already want to get out.

He was already missing Hank Pym's voice yelling in his ear, missing Hope, more than ever, when he thought of his daughter Cassie, he simply lifted his head up, and gasped quietly, he had to find get out of here, he couldn't leave her alone. He wanted to think of her, but knew tha the couldn't, it would only be more painful to him.

It was just moments before Ant-Man screamed as the white overcame his vision. He closed his eyes...

And when he opened them, he found himself to be falling out from the back of the van right into a pile of boxes.

He was finally out of the Quantum Realm, and would probably be relieved by it, but confusion overcame his body the moment when he was saw where was. The last time when he out of the Quantum Tunnel he was on a parking loot, but now he was in a U-STORE-It Self-Storage facility, and it wasn't one f the most well-kept storage facilities around. Poor lighting, plus the rat infestation were only a few things to say about this facility.

He grunted as he pushed away a cushion out of his body, and deactivated the helmet of his suit, but was still grunting in pain, as he sweeped away sparks from an electrical failure out of his suit, then he tried to stand up, "What the hell?"

He managed to stand up, as another electrical failure sparked out of his gauntlets, and now looked around in a confused look. Where was Janet? Where was Hank? Where was Hope, "Hope?" He called over to her, but got no answer.

Inside of a security office, a security guard was reading a book as he looked upon his security screen, seeing something going on in one of the storage facilities. In the cameras, it showed Lang in his casual clothing, shouting, waving a sign with the word "HELP" written on it. The guard could feel his eye opening in confusion. What was this man he never saw before doing there?

Several minutes later, Scott was taken out of the facility. He was pulling out a pushcart and as he glanced back at the guard who shook his head at him while giving a stern look from far. Scott quickly turned his gaze away from him and started walking, until he reached his hometown. On his way there he cmae across some post filled with missing posters, abandoned houses, a wrecked car, nothing but desolation.

It was when he saw a kid on a bike pass by, as he called over to him, "Hey!"

The kid stopped and turned around to him, giving him a serious look.

''What the hell happened here?" Scott asked him, having no idea what happened in the Quantum Realm. The kid just stared at him, looking like he was about to tear up, but immediately turned away from him and move on, driving his bike away from Scott. Lang looked at him with the same confused look, as he proceeded to walk through the town until he arrived in somewhat a memorial called "The Vanished", with all the names of the people who became victims of the Decimation. As Lang arrived on one of the engraved stones, he immediately dropped the handle in shock.

"No. Please. Please, please..." He said, running over to checkthe other side of the engraved stone, "No, no, no. No." Heexcused aside a young couple as he kept on checking another engraved stone if his daughter's name was on one,"Excuse me, sorry. No, Cassie, no."

He checked another the memorial stone, and another, and another, but his daughter's name was nowhere to be found, but he found something else. He found that his name was written on the engraved stone, as he said to himself in shock, "What?"

He quickly took off after finding his name on that stone. He ran over to one house in his hometown. This hous was his. He rang on a doorbell, banged on the door, and tried opening the door, but they were locked. Then, he seaw a feminine figure appear out of a hallway inside. The figure got closer, revealing a woman in a purple sweater, with her hand pushing towards the glass door's window, and her face filled with amazement, as she unlocked the door. 

Once they opened, Scott's jaw fell, refusing to close. His daughter Cassie, who hasn't seen him for five years, was standing in front of him. Her jaw fell and refused to close as well, but just a second after, she grabbed his face and held it up in an emotional sight and starts to smile tearfully. Lang did the same.

Scott felt his heart drop when she said that. He raised his hand opposite to hers, laid it on her own cheek, and whispered, calling her by her nickname, "... Peanut?"

''...Dad?" Cassie said, realizing that she was't just seeing things. He dad was standing in front of her. Both of them emotionally hug each other as both dad and daughter had reunited. Ant-Man having feeling mixed emotions. Sorrow that he missed five years of his daughters life, but also relief. Relief that she was okay.

Then Lang released her from the hug, and eyed her for a moment realizing that her daughter is now a full-grown teenager, "You're so big!"

The hugged again.

* * *

_Now_

The two groups were staring at each other in a rather awkward silence, the attention of the gems and one Kratai was mostly focused on Scott who was eyeing them for a moment, his eyes mustly focused on the gems.

"You weren't kidding, an actual people with rocks implemented on their bodies..." He broke the silence, but he only made it more awkward, "Just, wow.''

"Yeah, life if full of suprises." Shi'ra said, crossing her arms, as she was the only one who wasn't a gem on her side.

Scott panicked a bit at Shi'ra comment, "Oh, no, no, I didn't mean to say...."

Nat cut him off, "Scott, Shi'ra is just trying to mess with you, just tell them everything you told us.''

"Okay..." Scott started awkwardly, "I don't believe you know who I am..."

"Your name is Scott Lang." Garnet said, "We heard about you."

"Didn't he died in Thanos' snap?" Jasper asked what was on their minds. If she remembered correctly Ant-Man's was among those who weren't lucky enough to be spared in Thanos' snap.

"He did. I remember seeing his face on the holograms." Azurite agreed with the orange gem.

''If you didn't die in Thanos' snap, then where were you for all those years?" Peridot asked Scott, looking at him.

"Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?" was his answer to the short gems question, as everyone just stared at him in silence, letting him continue, "Alright, so... five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe."

"A microscopic universe?" Jasper whispered to Shi'ra and Azurite, all three of them looking to be already interested in what he was saying. 

''...To get in there, you have to be incredibly small." Scott continued, gesturing towards Peridot, "Even smaller than her."

"Don't call me small." Peridot huffed, crossing her arms.

Ignoring her comment, Scott continued, Hope, she's my... She was my..." He paused for a moment, struggling to not tell the entire truth about their relationship, ''She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.''

''I'm sorry that it happened, spending so many years in one place is hard for everyone." Azurite said, as he was locked in a small ship for most of his life.

''Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours." Scott explained.

"Five hours?" Shi'ra asked, wanting to be sure if she didn't misheard. Those five years were like five hours to him?

"I wish those five years were like five hours to me." Amethyst muttered to herself, sharing a bewildered glance with Garnet.

''See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable." Scott told them.

"What are you talking about?" Peridot wanted to know, looking to be as suprised as the rest about everything he was saying to them.

Scott looked down at the green gem, "What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos.''

"You're talking a time machine?" Amethyst asked.

"Creating a device like that is even possible?" Jasper asked another question. 

Scott shook his head, "No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a..." He paused for a moment, knowing it was exactly what they thought, "Yeah, a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... There's gotta be...some w... it's crazy.''

''Scott, I get e-mails from a raccoon, and now you're talking with space gems and space huntresses so nothing sounds crazy anymore.'' Natasha stated.

"As I already said, we can travel back in time to the times before Thanos snapped his fingers and..." Scott said.

"...We can bring everyone back..." Garnet cut him off in realization.

Scott pointed at her, "Exactly." 

"We're getting the team together for it. You were actually the first ones we asked." Steve said, looking at the group of six, "We want to know if you're in for this."

Garnet, Amethyst, Jasper, Peridot, Azurite and Shi'ra all looked at each other, all of them having the same feeling inside of them. They finally got a chance to bring their friends and loved ones back. There was a chance that they may see Steven, Pearl, Spinel, Bismuth, Lapis, Connie, Orange Pearl, Quill, Drax, Groot and Mantis again. If this was their chance they've been waiting for all these years, then they had to try. 

Garnet gave Captain America a nod in response, knowing that everyone had the same answer for Steve's question, "We'll get to you as fast as we can."

Steven nodded his head, "Alright."

They said quick goodbyes to each other, as the hologram shut down, ending their talk Steve, Natasha and Scott, as Amethyst asked them, "What do we do now?"

"We're going to met up by Azurite's ship." Garnet answered, glancing over at the male gem, who nodded his head in response, "But at first, we need to get everything we may need and inform everyone that we may be gone for a few days."

"We'll find Centi and Biggs and tell them about it." Jasper spoke up, with Shi'ra and Amethyst nodding their heads in agreement as everyone looked at the orange gem. The three of them already had everything they needed from the mission from today. If this was going to work then She finally may understand why Strange gave up the stone to Thanos.

"We'll see in each other in a few minutes." Amethyst added.

Garnet, Azurite and Peridot nodded their heads at them, as everyone took off out of the house. Garnet went to the temple, Peridot went to her house in Little Homeworld, Azurite went to his house in Little Homeworld as well, and Jasper, Amethyst and Shi'ra went to find Centi and Biggs to tell them that they may be gone for a few days because the Avengers found something and they need their help with it.

As Azurite rushed into his room, he immediately went over to the cupboard. He was still storing his claws in his gems but everything else was still on the cupboard. His eyes went to his glove which was forming myst around it's user and his enemies, he was still unable to use it since he started using claws which were covering most of the glove, and he remembered that he didn't took them with him after finding out that Thanos was after Infinity Stones, but this time, he picked it up from the cupboard and placed it on his hand, just in case. Then his eyes went to his hooks, which he took with them to the battle five years ago, and used them to kill Proxima Midnight. He picked them up and placed them on his back.

When he was about to leave his room, he glanced over at the two pictures on his memorial wall. One of them showing the Guardians of the Galaxy, while the other one was showing him, Jasper, Shi'ra, Centi, Orange Pearl and Spinel. His attention was mostly focused on the ones who weren't lucky enough to be spared from Thanos's snap.

"If this will work, I promise I'm going to do everything to bring you back." He said to himself.

Just as he said that, he gave the pictures one last glanced before heading off out of his house towards his ship, and upon arriving at this place, he saw that everyone was already there. And that included Centi and Biggs.

It was just a moment before he, Shi'ra, Jasper, Garnet, Peridot and Amethyst got into his ship, and boarded from from Little Homeworld, heading towards New York, as Centi and Biggs were watching them leave from the ground.

* * *

**Well, SU Future has ended, and that probably marks the end of the entire Steven Universe. The finale was okay, really liked that the gems that Steven helped (like Lapis and Peridot) helped to uncorrupt him, and the scenes where he was saying goodbye to everyone made me tear up, or Steven giving Onion ** **cheeseburger backpack (Okay, this wasn't a scene but we could see him having that backpack when Steven was leaving), ** **or seeing Yellow Pearl in an armor was great as well (that that was only part that made me smile in an episode that was hard to watch because Steven was literally destroying himself), ** **but I have to admit that I also feel a little unsatisfied. Like what happened with Bluebird, or Curly Haired Lapis or Cactus Steven? Each of them appeared in only one episode, and then just disappeared. ** **Or where was Centi for the entire events of SU Future? She just appeared in an intro, and she was the only corrupted gem that had an arc in the show, she could have at least appear in the background as a cameo. Or what was in that chest in Lion's mane?**

**And with that, another one of the cartoons I enjoyed came to an end. To quote Bucky Barnes, "I'm going to miss you buddy.". Thank you show and anyone behind it for introducing us to great characters, for some great moments (like Ruby's and Sapphire's wedding, or Peridot calling Yellow Diamond a clod) and etc. I know I said it already but I'm going to miss this show :')**


	30. Hope

Tony Stark stepped out from the cabin that stood near the lakeside and breathed in, letting out a long exhale. As the birds chirped in the tree above him and the sun shone heavy in his eyes, he made his way over to the recreation area and found it to be infested with an intruder. A tiny playhouse, a colorful tent, amongst a collection of toys, dolls, and crayon drawings.

He pursed his lips at that, as he began to look around everywhere, except for the place where he knew she'd be, ''Morguna?!" he called out, clapping his hands tree times as he took a seat on a a small chair that was standing by the campfire pit, "Morgan H. Stark. You want some lunch?''

A young girl, looking to be about 3-4 year old came out of the tent, wearing the gold and blue Iron Man mask, "Define lunch or be disintegrated.''

''Okay, You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I'm making for Mom." Tony said to his daughter, taking the helmet off her head, revealing her mischievous smile.

''Okay." Morgan said in response.

Tony fixed her hair that was a bit messed up after he took off the helmet, "There you go. Are you thinking about lunch? I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce.''

''No." Morgan shook her head.

''That's what you want." Tony stated, as he held up the helmet to show it off to her, "How did you find this?"

''Garage." Morgan replied, innocently, playing with her fingers.

"Really? Were you looking for it?" Tony asked her.

''No. I found it, though." Morgan answered.

"You like going to the garage, huh?" Tony said as he reached forward, scooping his child into his arms as she wrapped her arms around her fathers neck, "So does daddy. It's fine, actually. Your mom never wears anything I buy her."

They started walking towards the house, but Tony stopped in his tracks just a second after when he saw a ship approaching his house, before it landed in an area that was allowing it to land. He locked his gaze with the first person that walked out of it, it was the first Avenger himself, who was followed by Natasha Romanoff, Peridot, Azurite, Garnet, Jasper, Shi'ra and Amethyst.

His heart stopped when he saw that Scott Lang was the last one to step out of the ship.

His shocked expression didn't last long, as his daughter cried out, "Auntie Peri!"

Tony let her leave his arms as he set her down on the ground, allowing her to run forward. His daughter ran past Steve, Natasha, Garnet, Azurite, Amethyst, Jasper and Shi'ra and practicall slammed herself into Peridot.

"Morgan!" A grin grew on the green gem's face as Morgan embraced her tightly.

Shi'ra leaned to Azurite and Jasper and whispered to them, "It's amazing how a few year old child is almost taller than her."

Azurite and Jasper gave it a quiet chuckle, Peridot would have glared at them if she wasn't hugging Morgan, instead she asked the little girl', "How are you doing?"

Morgan's smile faded from her face as she asked the green gem in confusion, "I didn't know you were coming today. Are you going to test it today again?"

"Well..." Peridot bit her lips, at how innocent and confused Morgan sounded. She shook her head. She looked up at Tony standing behind his daughter, and finally smiled back at Morgan, "Me and my friends here need to talk with your dad about something. It is quite a story."

Tony kneeled next to his daughter and whispered to her, "Go to your mom. Now."

Morgan looked up at his serious face, then at Peridot's and finally at everyone's else before fleeing into the house.

Scott Lang everything Tony needed to know, trying to convince Tony that he, a man who everyone was sure to die in Thanos' snap was sitting there in the flesh and blood before them. Explaining the Quantum Realm situation, and his time within it, Scott was further able to explain the true meaning of what the Avengers were present on Stark's residence for. Tony sat alone upon his cushioned chair on the front porch of his home.

It was when he brought up the idea of time travel.

The possibility of undo the Snap, to bring everyone they lost back.

''Now, we know what it sounds like..." Scott said as he was nearing the end of his explanation.

Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve spoke up.

''Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?" Tony stated.

Steve, Nat, Scott, Azurite, Jasper, Shi'ra, Garnet and Amethyst all looked puzzled, only Peridot seemed to have a bit of an idea of what Tony just told them about.

Tony gave a drink who said in response, "Thank you."

''In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony explained.

Scott blinked as he pointed out, with confused expression on his face, "I did.''

''No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a..." Tony paused for a second, "What do you call it?"

''A time heist?..." Scott declared, doing his best to hide his pride in coming up with a theory of the actual time travel.

''Yeah, a time heist." Tony shook his head, "Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?''

''The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them." Scott remarked.

"We can snap our own fingers." Natasha stated.

"We can bring everyone back." Amethyst added, sitting on the floor, "Everyone that we lost, we may be able to see them again."

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony pointed out, glancing over at Steve.

"I don't believe we would." Steve stated.

Tony sighed, "Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise.''

''Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott stated, "That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events..."

Tony held up his hand, stopping Lang from saying more, "I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on _Back To The Future_?"

Scott's earlier pride caused by his discovery vanished and it turned into embrassment, "No."

"Good. You had me worried there." Tony stated, ''Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony..." Natasha sighed, "We have to take a stand."

''We did stand. And yet, here we are." Tony's voice shook for a bit.

"Tony, this may be something we've been waiting for five years. We all lost someone close to us that day, but now this is our chance. We bring them back, Steven, Pearl, Lapis, Connie, Spinel, Bismuth, Quill and most of his crew, Falcon, Strange, Maximoff..." She paused, debating with herself if she should mention this person or not, "..._Peter_... They may return, we will be able to see them again, to talk with them, to hug them. I know that we should move on from this, but..."

When Peridot didn't continued, Garnet spoke up, as everyone's eyes went over to her, to see the fusion walking over to Stark, "I think what Peridot is trying to say is that we can't move on from this. I've tried... we all have... but there isn't a day that goes by where I wish we could go back and change what happened.''

Tony stared up at the fusion, as Scott's Lang's voice which was getting louder with each word, selling out his growing desperation to the Iron Avenger, " I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even...''

''That's right, Scott, I won't even. I got a kid." Tony stated as if it was planned Morgan ran up to her dad who picked her up and put her down on his lap.

''Mommy told me to come and save you." Morgan stated.

Tony smiled and poked her nose, "Mommy told me to come and save you." He turned to face everyone, humans, gems and kratais alike, "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was... Oh, and table's set for six.''

''Tony, I get it." Steve said, "And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

Tony shook his head, "I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."

Morgan got off her father lap and went over to Peridot, "Auntie Peri. You staying for lunch?"

Peridot gave her a small smile in response, "I'm sorry, but now I'm busy with something."

"Oh..." Morgan frowned, "Maybe another time, when you won't be busy?"

"Of course." Peridot nodded her head.

"And then we will watch Camp Pinning Camps together?" Morgan asked.

"If that's okay with your dad." Peridot answered, glacing over at Tony.

Morgan ran back to her dad and began jumping up and down while shouting, "Please, please, please, please!"

Tony looked over Morgan's head, then looked down into her eyes, "Of course."

"Yippe!" Morgan cheered, as she ran back into her house.

It wasn't long before everyone said their quick goodbyes to Tony, headed out back towards Azurite's ship.

''He's scared." Nat stated.

Steve shook his head, "He's not wrong."

''Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him. What, are we gonna stop?" Scott sighed.

Steve shook his head again, "No, I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain.''

Scott blinked and pointed incredulously at Tony's house, "Bigger than his?"

* * *

The entire group had been sitting in a Denny's for a meal, or rather one of them was here for a meal, the others didn't want to eat. A group of humans were bustling about, either situated on the various tables or working within the diner itself. They were all sitting by one table at the end of the place, because it was the only one that could fit all them. Everyone were looking at Bruce, who looked like a completely new person now. They all seemed to be pretty situated with it, everyone except for Scott Lang who was simply at a loss for words at the sight of Bruce Banner.

At the sight of the Hulk.

At the sight of _both_.

''Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating." Bruce spoke up, pushing the plate towards Amethyst and Jasper, "Oh, Amethyst, Jasper, you like to eat don't you, c'mon have some eggs.''

"No thanks, dude." Amethyst shook her head.

"We already ate something, not that long ago." Jasper added.

"Alright." Bruce stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

Scott blinked a few times, he knew that five years was a long time, but it didn't made him even less confused, "I'm so confused..."

"These are confusing times." Bruce said, seriously.

''Right. No, no, that's not what I meant." Scott stated.

''No, I get it. I'm kidding!" Bruce dropped his serious act, "I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now.''

''Yeah! Wh...How? Why?" Scott said, awkwardly, having no idea what to say to Bruce.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost." Bruce began explaining.

''No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat said to him.

"That's right. What happened back then wasn't anyone's fault. We all tried out best to stop it from happening." Shi'ra added, sitting between Azurite and Garnet.

'' I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds..." Bruce continued, but was stopped when he was approached by three children. Two boys and one girl.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk." One of the children, a girl asked him.

Bruce turned to look at the three children, "Yes?"

"Can we get a photo?" A girl asked him, her smartphone offered to Bruce.

Bruce smiled at her and other two children in response, "100%, little person. Come on, step up." He took the phone from her and held it out to Scott, "You mind?"

"Oh, sure," Scott replied, taking the phone and holding it out to take the picture.

"Thanks." Bruce said to Scott in response, then he turned to the children all of them smiling wide, as Banner declared, "Say… green! Greeen! You get that"

Scott nodded, offering the phone back to the children, "You want to grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man." The children looked at each other confused, until Scott finally figured it out, "They're Hulk fans, they don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does."

''Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to...he wants to..." Bruce said as he glanced down at one of the boys, "You want to take a picture with him, right?"

The boy shook his head vigorously, which Scott didn't fail to notice, ''He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either.''

Azurite glanced down at the floor, cringing at the awkward situation, "This is so awkward..."

Shi'ra burried her hands into her face, "Yeah..."

Azurite and Shi'ra weren't the only ones noticing how awkward this situation was as well, but unlike Azurite and Shi'ra they stayed silent and glanced away from the situation, waiting for it to end.

''But, come on, the kid! But he...but you..." Bruce continued, trying not to make Scott feel left out.

Scott shook his head, "I don't want a picture with them."

Bruce leaned closer to the children and whispered to them, "He's gonna feel bad." He quickly turned back to Scott and told him, "Sorry. They said they'd do it.''

Scott shook his head again, "I don't want it anymore.''

''No, no...you feel bad." Bruce stated.

''Just take the goddamn phone." Scott pleaded.

The girl took the phone back, "Thank you, Mr. Hulk.''

''No, it's great kids. Thank you very much." Bruce stated, "Hulk out!"

Steve rolled his eyes, "Bruce."

"Dab!" Bruce exclaimed awkwardly.

''Bruce." Steve started again, trying to return to the topic they were here for.

"Listen to your Mom. She knows better!" Bruce shouted to the kids as they walked away.

''About we were saying..." Peridot spoke up, as she crossed her arms, growing tired of this entire conversation.

Bruce nodded seriously, "Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise.''

''Well, you pulled this off." Natasha stated, gesturing towards Banner's body, "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too."

Banner bit his lip as he turned to Scott, "Scott. If we're gonna figure this out, I'll have to check out that Quantum Tunnel you mentioned earlier."

"So you're saying you can do this?" Amethyst asked, a very hopeful expression on her face.

Her expression faded when Bruce shook his head, "Never said that. But I'm willing to give it a try."

Amethyst's hopeful smile returned to her face.

At least it seemed like a good start...


	31. First Tests

Tony was in the kitchen, washing dishes after dinner. It went exactly as excepted, the meal that was cooked by the likes of him and his wife was delicious and the entire family enjoyed it. His mind continued to drift back to the visitors he received a few hours ago, and one person that went back from the grave. His mind was drifting back to the words of Scott Lang saying they could go back in time and reverse everything that ever happened. Reverse Thanos.

Stark set the plate down and wipped his hands with a towel. He looked through the window, gazing for a moment at the darkened sky of the night, until his eyes went to the shifted their attention to the set of pictures. He walked past the picture of his father, Howard Stark, and shakily picked up the one next to it, looking at the framed picture of him and Peter Parker, neither of them unaware of what was going to happen in the future, what was going to happen to Peter.

As he proceeded to gaze at the face of Peter Parker, some voices from the past sounded in his head.

"_And if you die... I feel like that's on me..._"

"_I don't want to go... I don't want to go... Sir, please, I don't want to go, I don't want to go..._"

He shook his head as those words flew through his mind, his face hardening. He set the picture down back where it belonged as he made his way out of the kitchen into the living room. He cleared the table out of any scraps and tapped the heart of it twice and started working on something new.

"...Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what check out. So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please." He said.

His AI, Friday stated, "_Processing..."_

_''_Give me that eigenvalue. That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp. That will take a second." Tony told her.

''_Just a moment._" Friday answered.

''And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..." Tony was cut off by the AI.

''_Model rendered." _Friday interrupted him_._

In a complete shock of amazement, the render came back as 99.987% successful. Tony fell back into his chair, bewildered by this discovery. He lost his breath. He could only stare up to the hologram, didn't even hear Homer's words declare the test a success.

It worked out. He figured out time travel. Stark shot out his arms and declared in a successful voice, "Shit!"

"_Shit._" A familiar, young voice sounded in his ears.

Tony furrowed his brows at that, spinning his chair in the direction from which the voice came from, to see his Morgan sitting on the stairs, wearing onesie pyjama. Morgan stared up at her father, innocent was smile across her face, "What are you doing up, little mess?"

"Shit." Morgan repeated herself, smilling evilly.

''No, we don't say that." Tony shook his head, "Only Mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her."

''Why you up?" Morgan asked her dad.

''Cause I got some important shit going on here." Tony explained, gesturing towards the hologram, his daughter giving him incredulous look in response. Instantly regretting his choice of words, he added, "What do you think? No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind."

'' Was it Juice Pops?" She asked him with a hopeful look, knowing the right looks would get her dad to do anything she wanted.

''Sure was. That's extortion. Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on..." Tony said, looking back to the model for a second, before turning back to her, "My mind..."

He stood up from his seat as he walked over to his daughter, scooping the giggling, child in his arms. He made his way back into the kitchen and gave his daughter the Juice Pops that she wanted before they made their way into Morgan's room and set her down on her bed.

''You done? Yeah, now you are." Tony said, wiping her lips. He pushed her head into the pillow, adding, "That face goes there."

"Tell me a story." Morgan exclaimed.

''A story..." Tony stated, "Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The end."

Morgan giggled, "That's a horrible story."

Tony smiled at her, kissing her forehead, "Come on, that's your favorite story. I love you tons.''

He stood up, opening the door and was about to walk out of the room but he stopped when she said, "I love you _3 000_."

"Wow..." Tony stated, quietly, turning the lamp off, "_3 000_? That's crazy..." He said. He stared down to Morgan with that warm smile on his lips, pushing past the door and shutting it behind him. "Go to bed. Or I'll sell all your toys. Night, night."

A playful smile grew on Morgan's face as the darkness overcame her room.

Tony made his way down the steps, walking through the halls and eventually making his way into the loving room. His wife, Pepper Stark sat with a book in her hands, her legs splayed on the couch cushion, with her golden blonde hair falling down to her back.

Tony paced in front of a fireplace as he offered her a smirk, ''Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3000. You were somewhere on the low 6 to 900 range." He told her to which Pepper scoffed in response, "What are you reading?''

Pepper looked down at the book she was holding, "Oh, it's just a book on composting.''

''What's new with composting?" He asked her.

"Just..." Pepper began but Tony cut in.

''I figured it out, by the way." was what he told her.

Pepper put the book down, as she said, "You know, just so we're talking about the same thing."

''Time travel." Her husband exclaimed.

The blond haired woman looked amazed at her husband, "What? Wow... That's amazing, and... terrifying.''

Tony sighed as he sat down on the couch, next to her, "That's right."

''We got really lucky." Pepper stated, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know." Tony said, his gaze on the floor.

'' A lot of people didn't." Pepper said.

Tony shook his head, "No, I can't help everybody."

''It sort a seems like you can." Pepper stated, offering him a sad smile.

"Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop." Tony told her.

"Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my life." Pepper pointed out.

Tony smiled at those words, "I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake... go to bed."

Pepper smiled back at her husband, "But would you be able to rest?"

* * *

Azurite and Jasper stood together, watching how how Bruce and Peridot fumbled with the time machine Scott brought with him. Complications arose when Scott first volunteered as the test subject. Then Shi'ra volunteered as well. Banner, with the very small time he was actually given to actually study the tunnel, organized a small station he used to control the Quantum Tunnel.

''Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh... the van thing." Bruce awkwardly stated, fiddling with buttons on a panel. Scott and Shi'ra stood in front of Ant-Man's van, with the back open to show the Quantum Tunnel.

As Scott opened up the van portal, Cap reported to Bruce, "Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby."

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose them here in the 1950's." Bruce stated as everyone send him a look.

Scott's eyes went wide, so did Shi'ra's, as they both said in unison, "Excuse me?"

Amethyst laughed, thinking that Banner was joking, "Don't worry guys, big guy here is kidding."

"Right?" Natasha asked as she looked up at Banner.

''Just..." Bruce said with a pause, coming up with better version of what he was going to say, "...It was a bad joke."

Natasha and Amethyst realized something and the latter one whispered quietly to Bruce so Scott and Shi'ra wouldn't hear, "Oh my stars, you weren't kidding?"

"I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." Bruce whispered back, then his gaze went to Scott and Shi'ra and he gave them thumbs up, declaring loudly, "We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?''

''Understood, cap." Shi'ra said with a nod of her head.

''Perfectly not confusing." Scott added.

"Good luck, sis!" Azurite said to Shi'ra, him and Jasper giving their roommate an encouraging nods.

Shi'ra smiled at them, nodding her head in return.

"Good luck, guys." Captain America told them, "You got this, both of you."

''You're right.'' Scott said, confidently, "I do, Captain America."

Bruce looked down at Peridot and nodded her head. In response to that, the small green gem pressed a button and Scott and Shi'ra both disappeared in the Quantum Tunnel. Everyone held their breaths, hoping that they would be okay.

"On the count of three." Bruce looked down at Peridot as she nodded her head in understanding, "Three... two... one!"

Peridot pressed the button on three and Scott and Shi'ra came out of the Quantum Tunnel, or rather two people less older than them, wearing the same suits as the human and the kratai who entered the Quantum Tunnel a moment ago.

''Uh, guys?" Teenage Scott stated, super confused, not realizing that he had turned into a teenager, "This...this doesn't feel right.''

"That's right. I feel younger." Shi'ra added, looking around in confusion.

Steve gave Bruce a panicked look, ''What is this?"

"Wait, what?" Amethyst said, turning her gaze between Scott and Shi'ra.

''What's going on?" Bruce asked, looking just as bewildered as Captain America.

"Who is that?" Jasper raised her brow, Azurite beside her looking just as confused.

"That's Scott and Shi'ra..." Garnet stated.

Peridot removed her visiors to see if Garnet was right, and when she realized that the fusion was indeed right, she started panicking. What have they done?

Bruce pressed another couple of buttons in panic, trying to fix the problem, "Hold on."

"Scott? Shi'ra?" Nat asked, her face switching from confusion to glare she send Banner.

"Yes, it's Scott!/Yes, it's Shi'ra!" Scott and Shi'ra yelled in unison as they got sucked in the Quantum Tunnel again. Bruce must've hit the correct buttons in the correct sequence. What cae out of Quantum Tunnel was an eldery man and an eldery Kratai.

"Oh, my back!" Scott grunted, holding his back in pain, as Shi'ra simply groaned, having the same problem as Ant-Man.

If it was even possible, Steve panicked even more, "What is this?"

Bruce waved his hand to get their attention, "Can I get a little space here?"

"Can you bring them back?" Azurite asked him.

''I'm working on it!" Bruce answered, typing frantically on the side of the button pad, trying to pull back Scott and Shi'ra. After a moment another persons came, this time both of them were babies.

"It's babies." Steven said, blinking at the sight.

"It's Scott and Shi'ra." Bruce pointed out.

"As a _babies_!" Azurite pointed out

"They'll grow!" Bruce stated, shrugging his shoulders.

Steve motioned to the baby Lang and Shi'ra, "Bring them back!

Bruce glanced at Nat, "When I say kill the power, kill the power.''

''Oh my god." Natasha said as she walked over to the generator and stood ready to kill the power.

"And... Kill it!" Bruce said as Black Widow pulled down the lever in response. Everyone got shut down and Scott and Shi'ra, this time back in their normal bodies came out of the Quantum Tunnel.

"Somebody just peed my pants." Scott stated.

"Oh, thank god." Natasha breathed out a sigh of relief.

"They're back..." Peridot said, letting out a sigh of relief a well.

''But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me...Or just _"me" _me." Scott added, looking around at his stunned teammates.

Shi'ra removed her helmet and threw it on the floor, "I'm going to be sick!" She shouted as she covered her mouth with her hand, and ran out of everyone's sight, trying to find the bathroom and or the nearest trashcan to throw up.

Bruce shot out his hands and declared proudly, excited at all the new possibilities, "Time travel!"

Steve, Natasha, Jasper, Peridot, Amethyst and Azurite all looked at Banner with deadpan expressions. Garnet simply gave him a thumbs up, her expression as stoic as ever.

"What?" Bruce asked, "I see this as an absolute win."

"We should probably check on her." Azurite said as he looked up at Jasper, referring to Shi'ra.

"Yeah." Jasper said, as they both headed out to check on Shi'ra while Amethyst and Garnet went over to Scott to see if everything was okay with him.

Steve sighed as he walked off, making his way directly through the halls and towards the exit. When he walked walked outsideof the Avengers headquarters and stared down at the floor, deep in thought. He looked beated, the only possibility of victory now didn't seemed like an opportunity, at least for now.. He lookedup as a deafening noise broke the silence in the distance. As he looked, he saw an Audi R8 speeding towards the entrance. The car pulled over to Cap, but went a bit too far, then reversed back to Cap.

Tony Stark rolled down the window and looked at him, revealing the person driving it, "Why the long face? Let me guess he turned into a baby."

''Among other things, yeah." Steve answered, "What are you doing here?"

Tony got out of the car, and ignored Steve's question, saying, "That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it."

Steve blinked, "You did."

"Oh, did I?" Tony snorted, "Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He held up his right hand with a device on it, making a peace sign with his fingers, "A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

"Me too." Steve gave him a small smile.

''We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities." Tony began, "Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying will be nice."

"Sounds like a deal." Steve nodded, reaching his hand out for a handshake in which Tony replied the same way, then Stark reached into the back of his trunk to pull something else out. It was Captain America's Shield.

He held it out to Captain America who hesitated, his mind flashing back to what happened in Siberia. He shook his head, saying, "Tony, I don't know."

"Why? He made it for you." Tony pointed out, referring to his dad, "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.''

Steve reached forward and took the shield right from Tony's arms. He couldn't help himself but feel awkward, this time being the first one in years since he carried his shield for the last time. But this feeling was quickly overcamed by another one, a familiar one to Captain America. His shield returning to it's rightful owner.

He stared down at it, a smile forming on his lips, "Thank you, Tony."

''Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team." He paused for a second, hesitating, "...We are getting the whole team, yeah?"

Captain America gave him a nod of his head in response, "We're working on that right now."


	32. The Broken Man

It was the lunch time time for the Avengers and Scott couldn't actually be more happier to have a meal. He was extremely hungry. His meal wasn't anything special. It was just a simple taco. He walked out from the Avengers headquarters and sat down on the bench, taking out his taco and ready to dug into it, but he was interrupted as the Guardians ship landed in front of the headquarters, the two remaining Guardians of the Galaxy walking down the hatch into the daylight.

"Hey, humie! Where's Big Green and small green?" Rocket asked him.

Scott gestured towards the entrance to the Avengers headquarters, and replied, "Uh, Kitchen, I think." He looked at Nebula as the cyborg was approaching him, "That's awesome."

Walking past Scott, Nebula said into an earpiece on her jacket, "Rhodey, careful on the entry, there's an idiot in the landing zone."

A second after Nebula walked into the headquarters, it seemed like Scott was finally regaining his senses and was about to dig into his taco, if it wasn't for James Rhodes who landed in front of him without warning. It suprised Scott so hard that it made him drop his taco on the ground.

"Oh God!" He shouted.

"What's up regular-sized man?" Rhodey asked him, as he walked away from Ant-Man towards the entrance of the Avengers headquarters, walking past Amethyst as she walked out of the place and approached Lang.

"Hey, dude." She said to him.

"Yes?" He asked her.

Amethyst pointed at Scott's taco on the ground, "You're going to eat it or what?"

Scott looked down at what he was planning to eat just a second ago, and shook his head, "No."

"Okay." Amethyst said as she picked up the taco from the ground and immediately took huge a bite of it, much to Scott's disgust.

"Hey, it was on the ground, you know!" Scott pointed out.

"Who cares, dude? Food is food!" Amethyst shrugged her shoulders as she walked back into the Avengers headquarters.

Scott raised his finger and it looked like he was about to say something to her, but at the end, said nothing and remained silent. He sighed as he looked down, not having any meal to fill his empty stomach as he was approached by Bruce Banner. Having seen how Lang dropped his meal, Banner handed him two tacos from his own lunch. Ant-Man took it while giving Bruce a puzzling look at this act of kindness.

* * *

Azurite, Bruce and Rocket sat in the back of the truck as it was driving towards a place called "New Asgard". It was a place where the surviving Asgardians settled down five years ago after Thanos snapped his fingers. Their task was to convice Thor to join their mission.

When they finally reached this place, they hopped off the truck and looked around themselves with Rocket station, ''Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and what not."

''Hey, have a little compassion, pal. First they've lost Asgard, then half the people." Banner pointed out.

"Good thing they found home on this planet." Azurite stated, to which Banner nodded his head in agreement.

''You shouldn't have come!'' A voice that was unfamiliar to Rocket and Azurite, but familiar to Bruce called over to the trio.

All three of them looked into the direction of that voice, and spotted someone that Bruce knew very well. They approached her, as Bruce greeted her, offering her a quick smile, "Ah, Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl."

Valkyrie noticed Bruce's change of appearance and said, "I think I liked you better either of the other ways."

"This is Rocket." Bruce introduced Rocket, motioning to the talking raccoon.

Rocket gave her a two finger salute, "How you doin'?"

Then Bruce motioned to Azurite, "And this is Azurite."

"Hi." Azurite said, giving Valkyrie a small wave.

Valkyrie eyed Rocket and Azurite, before saying, "He won't see you."

"That bad, huh?" Bruce winced.

Valkyrie nodded her head in confirmation, "We only see him once a month, when he comes for..." She glanced over at the pile of kegs of stout and other beer on the side, "...supplies."

Bruce winced again, "It's that bad?"

Valkyrie sighed, "Yeah."

"Has it been getting better or worse as the time passed?" Azurite asked.

"Take a guess, gemmy." Valkyrie answered.

"Oh, boy." Azurite heard Rocket mutter from his right side. Convicing Thor to help is going to be harder than they thought.

The male gem sighed, "Let us just talk with him."

"Alright." Valkyrie nodded her head as she gestured towards Thor's house, "But don't be suprised if he'll ask you to leave."

Rocket, Azurite and Bruce all made a mental note of that, but it was going to chance the fact that they were going to do their best to convice Thor to join them. They made their way over to Thor's house and Rocket opened the entrance to this house before walking inside, Azurite was walking behind him and the gem was followed by Banner.

''What the... Woo!" Rocket grimaced at the awful smell, "Something died in here."

"Hello? Thor!" Bruce called out for the God of Thunder.

"Is someone in there?" Azurite called out for him as well.

They heard Thor voice call from the back of another room, "Are you here about the cable?'' Thor appeared in their view as he walked into the room and all three of them couldn't believe their own eyes at the state of the God of Thunder. He was shirtless, had overgrown his hair and beard and hasdefinitely put on more than a couple of pounds since they last saw him.

"The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago..." Thor continued speaking as if he didn't notice his teammate, grabbing a beer, "...and the sports were all kind of fuzzy."

Bruce blinked in shock at the state Thor was in, "Thor?"

"Is that you?" Azurite asked, in shock, not believing that this was the same man he meet in Nidavellir all those years ago, but he actually couldn't blame Thor for letting himself go.

Thor turned to them, and finally noticed their presence in his house. His mood instantly shifted to joy, "BOYS! Oh my God! Its so to see you!" He walked over to Bruce, giving him a quick hug before turning his attention to Rocket. He came over to the talking raccoon, and tried to hug him, as Rocket tried to shift out of his way, "Come here, you little rascal!"

Rocket was shaking his head, wanting to end this awkward hug, mostly because Thor's belly was touching his face, "No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary."

"And Azurite! My unique gem friend!" Thor said, as he released Rocket from the hug, moving over to Azurite to embrace him, "You're here too!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's good to see you too, Thor." Azurite said, patting Thor on the back, wanting this hug to be over as fast as possible.

After releasing the gem from the hug, Thor looked up at Banner, "Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?" He pointed at the couch where Miek and Korg were sitting, PlayStation controller was in the hand of the latter one as he was playing Fortnite and eating chips.

"Hey, boys!" Korg greeted them, waving his gigantic rocky at the visitors.

Bruce waved back, "Hey guys, long time no see."

''Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously." Korg said, going back to his game, before pointing at the screen, "Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again."

"Noobmaster." Thor growled.

"Yeah, NoobMaster69 called me a dickhead." Korg explained.

Thor walked over to Korg and took his headphones and spoke into the mic, "Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I am gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR BUTT! Oh, that's right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!"

As Thor was shouting these words to the so called "Noobmaster69", his guest couldn't believe what they were seeing. Bruce was simply staring at the God of Thunder in shock, having no idea what to say as Azurite and Rocket looked at each other, sharing looks of disablief with each other.

Thor brought the headphones back to Korg who smiled in appreciaton, "Thank you, Thor."

''Let me know if he bothers you again, okay?" Thor told Korg.

"Thank you very much. I will." Korg assured him with a nod of his head.

Thor looked back at Banner, Rocket and Azurite, all three of them still being in shock, "So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things''

As Thor used Stormbreaker to open a bottle of beer and started drinkingit, Bruce walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Buddy, you all right?''

''Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?" Thor blinked in confusion at his question.

"You look like melted ice cream!" Rocket pointed out, sounding his concern for the God of Thunder.

"And it's a gentle way to put it." Azurite stated, showing his concern for Thor as well.

Thor laughed, "So, what's up?"

"We need your help." Bruce started explaining why they came here to Thor, "There might be a chance we could fix everything."

''What, like the cable?" Thor asked, not understanding what Banner meant by that, "Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks.''

Bruce sighed, bracing himself for Thor's reaction, "Like Thanos.''

Thor's smile slowly disappeared from his face as he put a shaky hand on Bruce's shoulder and pointed at him, "Don't say that name."

Korg stood up from the couch and took off his headphones, "Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here.''

"Please take your hand off me." Bruce said to Thor, quietly, but the God of Thunder didn't reacted to his request, so he brushed his arm away, "Now, I know that... guy might scare you.''

''Why would I be? Why would, why would I be scared of that guy? I'm the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn't think so." Thor said in response as he glanced over at Korg, "Korg, why don't you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off.''

"Umm..." Korg hesitated, thinking about the answer for a moment, "Stormbreaker?''

''Now, who's swingin' Stormbreaker?" Thor asked, gesturing towards himself.

''I get it." Bruce said to his friend, "You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?"

''I don't know. Is it.." Thor paused for a moment, trying to think of the answer, "Natasha?"

Bruce shook his head, "It was _you_. You helped me."

Thor walked over and looked out the window and pointed, still holding his beer, "Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth." He dropped onto the sofa, looking defeated because this was how he felt, as he added with biterness in his voice, "The ones that are left, anyway.''

''I think we can bring them back" Bruce told him.

''Stop. stop, okay?" Thor shushed him, opening a pack of M&Ms and shoving one of them into his mouth, "I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?''

He looked over at Korg and Miek. Miek nodded his head, while having a piece of pizza with his mouth as Korg nodded his head, "Nah, all good here, mate.''

''So, whatever it is that you're offering, we're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye." Thor replied, offering them a smile that almost instantly faded from his face.

''We need you, pal." Bruce said, in the last ditch of effort to convice him to help them.

Thor shook his head and ignored Bruce's plea for help.

"There's beer on the ship." Rocket stated, crossing his arms,

Thor paused, "What kind?"

"The good one." Azurite added, having no idea if he was telling the truth or not.

* * *

On the rainy night a Quinjet was flying in the direction of the of the city of Tokyo.

One of the streets of this city was filled with lifeless bodies of yakuza members. One of those who were lucky enough to survive to this point was firing everything he had onto the hodded figure. Unfortunely for him it didn't do much as the figure threw a shuriken at him, making sure he won't cause anymore trouble, but it wasn't over. The figure immediately spotted two another yakuza members. He saw them pull out their UZI's and aim them at him, with the intention of getting rid of him, once and for all.

''It's him! He's after Akihiko!" One of them shouted. They opened fire at the figure, but it actually didn't took much until they joined their friends. Two shurikens were enough to do the job, both of them struck them in the head, taking care of them immediately.

As the figure watched how two more lifeless bodies joined already filled street, he heard someone charge at him. He instantly turned in the direction of that sound and saw a katana wielding man charging at him in the stairs, only to be cut down by his sword, falling down the steps while the lone warrior moved to kill his way up, throwing another one of them through the window on his way.

Upon reaching another floor more gunfire was heard along with pained cries, as another thug came through another window. He landed on the street, hoping to have escaped his attacker, but unfortunely for him the attacker appeared right behind him, making him turn to the hodded person responsible for the death of his friends.

''Why are you doing this?" This person who must've been Akihiko asked him in Japanese, pulling out his sword, "We never did anything to you!''

''You survived... Half of the planet didn't. They got Thanos... you get me." The figure retorted, getting in the fighting position before they charged at each other and the two warriors clashed, exchanging blows with each other, and one of them managed to pierce Akihiko's stomach, doing only minor damage to him, but it was still something, ''You're done hurting people.''

Akihiko gestured to all the scattered bodies of his henchmen and chuckled, "WE hurt people? You're crazy!"

Akihiko charged, which the hodded figure immediately blocked. Both exchanged blows of swords and it seemed like the yakuza leader hae the upper hand, but the figure punched him in the face, and sword-pointed him to his throat, making Akihiko is temporarily petrified. The yakuza leader felt injured by this act as he looked up at the hodded figure. He did not feel like dying today and he did not want to die by the hands of a man dressed in a costume.

Using all the strength he had left in his body, he charged back at his enemy, only to get cut once more, this time by the throat. It was enough for him. He turned around and fell on his knees as he held his throat, raising his hands in surrender.

"Wait! Help me! I'll give you anything! What do you want?" He pleaded for mercy.

The figure didn't care about his pleads. He raised his sword up for the finishing blow and spoke in English, "What I want... You can't give me.''

He thrusted the blade downwards into Akihiko's stomach. The body of the Japanese fell to the ground. He grabbed the sword, and wiped it on his gauntlet, ridding it of the blood of Akihiko. It was just a moment befor ehe saw someone behind him. He grabed his mask, and slided it off his head, revealing himself to being Clint Barton, a retired Avenger who lost in family in the decimation and has been on a rampage ever since.

He turned around and looked at Natasha Romanoff, Garnet and Shi'ra, who were standing behind him, Black Widow and the Kratai holding an umbrella, while the fusion didn't seem to care about the rain.

''You shouldn't be here." He spoke up to someone who he considered his closest friend.

''Neither should you." Natasha stated.

''I've got a job to do." Clint told her.

''Is that what you're calling this? Killing all these people isn't gonna bring your family back." Natasha pointed out.

Clint looked down, he was on the verge of crying as Garnet stepped forward, "I understand why you're angry, Mr. Barton. I know who you lost, I lost someone important to me too, but this isn't right what you're doing. You don't have to do this anymore. We came here because we'd like to share something with you."

The fusion looked down at Natasha as she stepped forward as well, Shi'ra who was standing behind them decided to stay silent, as Nat spoke up to her friend, "We found something. A chance, maybe...''

Clint glanced over at her, now crying, "Don't."

''Don't what?" Natasha asked him.

"Don't give me hope..." Clint shook his head.

Natasha stared at him, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner."

Clint looked down at the ground again, feeling very hopeless. Knowing that he needed her comfort, Natasha moved her hand to hold his gloved one as they stood together, Shi'ra and Garnet watching them in silence as the rain poured down from the sky.

* * *

**The next chapter is going to be about the final test and final preparations for the time heist.**


	33. Final Preparations

Thor was walking through Avengers headquarters. The God of Thunder dressed himself in a hoddie, as he opened a can of beer, taking a sip of it, looking around himself. Rocket, Stark and Peridot were working on building the time machine, even though Stark was absent for most of the time to work on his personal project, Azurite and Amethyst carried supplies back and forth for the others to piece together and construct the machine. Jasper, Nebula, Rhodey, Scott and Banner were working on the suit that they were going to use during the time heist if this will end up working,

"On your left!" Thor's heard Amethyst voice as he turned around to see her. Amethyst shapeshifted herself into Purple Puma, because it would make it easier for her to carry it.

"You look different." Thor observed, eyeing the gem.

Amethyst just sent him a smile as she came over to Rocket and Peridot who were working on something underneath the platform, "Hey, Peri! Raccoon! New delivery!"

Rocket's eye twitched, as he groaned, knowing that she called him a raccoon just to annoy him, it happened before, "Be careful gemmy, you're not a genius.''

"I thought you got used to it." Peridot stated, glancing over at Rocket, recalling all the times Amethyst called Rocket a raccoon, neither on the mission, or in Beach City as the talking raccoon and Nebula were staying there from time to time. At first, Rocket was reacting like to any other person that called him a raccoon, but as the time passed he just stopped reacting to it. The small green gem thought he had gotten used to it.

"No, I didn't." Rocket said as he went back to work. Peridot and Amethyst shared a look with each other, before the first one went back to work on the time machine, as Amethyst walked away from them to get more things.

As she went to get more things, she walked past a room where Banner, Nebula, Scott, Rhodey and Jasper were working on a suit, well Nebula and Banner mostly did. Jasper and Rhodey were watching them, standing by each other side, eventually saying something or handing them a tool as Scott was standing in the middle, wearing the Quantum Suit. It was white, black, and red in color. It looked awfully similiar to his Ant-Man's suit.

"Time travel suit? Not bad." Rhodey stated.

Bruce looked down Scott's suit and was about to put something that looked like a strange red liquor in glass test tube in it, which Lang didn't fail to notice, "Hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!"

"I'm being very careful." Banner stated, looking at Scott in confusion.

"No. You're being very Hulky." Scott shook his head.

"I'm being careful." Banner disagreed, confusion not leaving his face.

Scott held up the red glass bottle as he started explaining what it was to them, and how careful they should be with it was if they wanted their mission to succeed, "These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more."

"Calm down." Rhodey told him.

"We know how important that it." Jasper added, "That's why I'm keeping my hands off it."

"Sorry. We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs." Scott said as he accidentally pressed a button, and screamed before shrinking. A moment later he grew back to his normal size, and looked over at the group around him, "_One _test run."

Rhodey sighed with exasperation as Jasper put her hand on her forehead, saying, "And we should be careful with it?"

''...All right." Scott took a deep breath, before shaking his head, thinking about what happened the last time when he was testing the time travel along with Shi'ra, "I'm not ready for this."

"I'm game." A voice that was unknown for Jasper and Nebula, but known for Banner, Scott and Rhodey rang through the room as everyone turned in the direction of it and saw Clint Barton, "I'll do it."

Not long after Clint's arrival, a few minutes to be exact, Barton had switched places with Scott and was now standing in the middle of the room as Banner and Nebula started working on his suit. The work they had done on Scott had to be repeated but they didn't seem to mind it. Ant-Man stood in the back of the room, along with Jasper and Rhodes.

Nebula pressed something on Clint's shoulder, as a small control panel opened. She began pressing some buttons, as Banner spoke up to Barton, "Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it."

''Wai-Wait a second, let me ask you something." Rhodey said as everyone except for Nebula looked at him, "If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and..." He made the motion with his pointing finger, wrapping an invisible rope around in front of him before tightening both of his fists outwards. It took a second for others to catch on.

"I'm in." Jasper said, raising her hand.

"First of all! That's horrible!" Banner stated in disgust.

"It's Thanos." Rhodes pointed out.

"If you can do it, then I can take care of baby Thanos. I was trying to kill Steven when he was younger." Jasper stated, as everyone, even Nebula gave up what they were doing and looked at her, "What? Don't look at me like that. Peridot tried to kill him too."

Bruce shook his head, "And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."

''Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them..." Scott explained with a small pause in the middle, "Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved."

"Bingo." Clint agreed with Scott.

''That's not how it works." Nebula pointed out, shaking her head.

"Well, that's what I heard." Clint explained, rolling his eyes.

"What? By who? Who told you that?" Bruce asked Clint, looking at him.

Rhodes started counting his fingers, "Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time..."

"Quantum Leap." Scott cut in.

"A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time..." Rhodes continued.

"Hot Tub Time Machine." Scott added, jokingly.

"Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.'' Rhodes agreed, though Scott looked him strangely because of him agreeing about Hot Tub Time Machine, "Basically, any movie that deals with time travel."

Jasper looked between these two, "There are that many movies about time travel on this planet?"

Her question went without answer as Scott said to himself, ''Die Hard? No, it's not one..."

"This is known." Rhodes argued.

"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true." Bruce sighed, looking down at Rhodes, "Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..."

''Exactly." Nebula nodded her head in agreement.

''So... Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?" Scott stated, looking down.

Everyone in the entire facility, included them stopped when Tony Stark's voice rang out and declared, "_Avengers to the armory. Got a surprise for you. And yeah, I'm referring to everyone when I'm saying that."_

Everyone abandoned their work, for a moment anyway and made their way over to the armory. They stepped through the sliding steel doors into massive armory. The entire group looked over at Stark as he held one burning blue light in his hand, Amethyst and Rocket could see Peridot forming an excited grin on her face as she instantly knew what it was. Everyone inspected it and it turned out to be an Arc Reactor.

"Peri, mind stepping forward?" Tony asked the small green gem.

Peridot nodded her head as she stepped forward towards Tony without hesitation, as Azurite asked them, "What is going?"

The small green gem turned over to them for a second, her attention was mostly focused on Garnet, Amethyst, Jasper, Azurite and Shi'ra, "Remember when I told that I've been working on a project with Tony?" All five of them nodded their heads, remembering it, "This is this project."

She walked over to Tony and stood in front of him as Stark placed Arc Reactor on her chest. Peridot didn't close her eyes and didn't seemed to stressed out as she had done this before when she was testing it with Tony during her visits. The nanobots snuggled their way onto her chest comfortably, right on the star on her clothing as gem gazed down at it. She looked up at Stark who nodded his head at her. She pressed her hand on the burning light of the Reactor and pressed it two times. The suit started overcoming her entire body as she stared at everyone's reaction. Amethyst's, Jasper's, Shi'ra's, Rocket's and Azurite's jaw dropped and their eyes bulged when they witnessed it.

The nanotechnology overcame her body, from her feets to even her triangular hair. Her suit looked like a smaller version of Tony's and Rhodey's suits. Some parts of her armor were painted green, in the same places like the red parts of Tony's armor. A huge golden star was placed right under the Arc Reactor.

Her mask disappeared, revealing her grinning face, "So, what do you think?"

Garnet smirked at at her at gave her a thumbs up, Steve was awestruck, and everyone else, just each showed their amazement in their own ways.

''Uh..." Amethyst thought what to say. When Peridot told them that she and Tony were working on something many things went through her mind, but a thought that Peridot would get her own suit armor never crossed her mind.

"We called it Iron Gem." Tony spoke up, pointing at Peridot.

"Mark 1." Peridot added.

"That was... unexcepting." Shi'ra said, showing her awe towards the suit. Stark smirked, having something for the Kratai as well.

"What about her metal powers?" Jasper asked, "Aren't they going to do anything to the suit?"

"We did some tests while we were working on it. She will be able to use her metal powers, and they will not do anything to her suit as long as she will not try it to use it on it." Tony explained.

"I tried to use it, once." Peridot said, "It didn't end well."

"There's also something I have for the Predator." Tony called over to Shi'ra. The Kratai rolled her eyes at the nickname. She was getting a lot of comments from humans that she was looked similiar to the creature from some science fiction movie.

"What is this?" Shi'ra asked as she walked over to him.

Tony picked up a briefcase from the floor and opened it, revealing a weapon that looked just like Shi'ra plasma caster. Shi'ra eyed it in confusion as Peridot said to her, "Remember when I asked you to borrow me your plasma caster because I wanted to check something in it?"

Shi'ra nodded her head, "Yes, I do. You returned it a week later."

"She took it to me. I inspected it and started working a new version which you're seeing here. Now you're able to fire as many shots as you want to, without having it recharge it during the fight. You can recharge it whever you want. Like after the fight." Tony explained.

Shi'ra laughed as she carefully picked her new plasma caster and placed it on her other shoulder, "Thank you. I appreciate it." Tony nodded his head at her, as she asked, "Will I be able to use both of my plasma casters at the time?"

Tony gave her another nod in response, "Yes, but the older version of it will stil have to recharge."

The Kratai smiled at him, "I know I said that already but thank you."

"Alright." Stark said, "That's everything I wanted to show you." He looked over at Clint who was still wearing the Quantum suit, "I think we should prepare ourselves for the final test."

Everyone nodded their heads to that and went off to prepare everything for the final test as they had only test run left and had to be prepared for it. Peridot pressed the Arc Reactor on her chest and her suit dematerialized from her body. She looked over at Tony, wanting to be if she should took it off or not, but he shook his head, saying that her suit was ready.

* * *

Everything was ready for the final test. The platform they were going to use for the time heist had been completed and Quantum Suit on Clint Barton's was ready, along with it's user. He was standing on the platform, waiting for Bruce's to give the call as Banner was standing in front of the control panel along with Steve, Natasha, Scott, Tony, Peridot, Azurite, Garnet, Shi'ra, Jasper, Amethyst, Nebula and Rocket.

''...Alright, Clint. We're going in..." Banner said, as Clint readied himself for what was going to happen, "3... 2... 1!"

A white helmet popped on Clint's head as he went into the Quantum Tunnel. He flied through the tunnel into an opening before growing into his normal size. He found himself in completely different place than Avengers headquarters, and seemigly different time. He recognized this place. It was his family home. His old family home when his family was still alive.

His helmet went off his head as he looked around in bewilderment. He rised up to his feet and went over to his family home, spotting something on the ground just in front of the entrance. It was a baseball glove on the ground, presumably belonging to one of his sons. He lowered his hand towards it and picked it up. It was when he heard a noise from inside the house, the voice of someone who Clint hasn't seen for five years.

''Cooper? Where are my headphones?" Lila Barton's voice rang through his ears.

"Lila..." He muttered to himself, recognizing his daughter's voice before he heard the device on his hand started beeping, telling him one thing. The end of his visit was nearing. He rushed for the door, calling out his daughters name but only manages to open it before he shrinked back to go back to his times.

"Yeah, dad?" His daughter asked as she went into the room, but much to her confusion finding none there, "Dad?"

Clint screamed as he materialized back on the platform, the baseball glove falling from his hand. He breathed heavilly as he sat down on the platform, his helmet disappearing from his face as everyone rushed over to see if everything was okay with him.

Natasha Romanoff was the first one to make her way over to help, placing her hands on his cheeks and asking, "Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?"

"Yeah." Clint assured her with a nod of his head.

"Guys, he did it..." Azurite said, glancing down at the glove Clint brought with him. He picked it up and glanced down at Barton, sending him a smile, "It works."

Clint Barton returned the smile. It really worked. Time travel was working!

* * *

Everyone were seated in a room, having a planning session. Time travel was now possible and it was working, so now they needed to come up with a plan. They have been in that room for a while now, laying or sitting in different directions. Holograms displayed, showcasing all six of the Infinity Stones.

Tony, Steve and Bruce were pacing at the front, leading the planning of the mission. Natasha was sitting on the couch, one of her feets placed on the table. Rocket sat next to her, and next to him was Peridot. Clint and Rhodey were sitting on the chairs next to her, so did Shi'ra and Azurite on the other side of the room. Jasper and Amethyst were leaning against the wall. Nebula stood in the back of the room, Garnet standing next to her.

''Okay, so the "how" works." Rogers began, "Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

''Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones." Tony added.

"I haven't." Scott said as he shook his head, looking around the room, "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Nobody filled him in about the stones?" Azurite asked, looking around the room, while pointing at Scott.

"I thought someone else already did that." Rhodes said.

"Me too." Amethyst nodded her head.

Bruce started explaning, "Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.''

''Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in." Tony continued.

"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint stated.

Tony snapped his fingers, "Correct."

"Let's start with the Aether." Steve started the list with the red stone, as he looked over at Thor, "Thor, what do you know?"

Everyone turned to see Thor sitting on a chair with his sunglasses on. It was impossible to tell whether he was awake or asleep.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, no. I'm pretty sure he's dead." Rhodey stated.

Garnet came over to Thor and her gauntlets appeared on her fists. She slammed them together, making a loud bang that rang through the ears of everyone. Thor jumped in his seat, almost breaking a chair he was sitting on, as he awoke from his slumber.

"What? What?" He asked, cringing at the loud noise that awoke him.

"I had to wake you up. You need to tell us about Aether." Garnet explained, gesturing towards the hologram with Aether.

"Oh..." Thor said in response as he stood up from his seat. He went over to the holograms and pointed at Aether, removing his sunglasses, "Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before..." He pointed at Steve who furrowed his brows in confusion. He pulled a bottle of eye drops and dropped one his eye as he continued, "It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago... My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves...'' He wiggled his fingers to imitate a spooky ghost.

As Thor continued to tell them everything they had to know about Aether, everyone had different reactions because of the way he presenting it to them. Clint and Rhodey shared a quick uncomfortable look with each other. Nebula lifted her head up, not saying anything. Azurite and Shi'ra looked each other, neither of them having idea if they should say something or not. Amethyst grabbed Jasper's hand, making her look down at her. She gave her a questioning look as Jasper shook her head and shrugged her shoulders in response. Rocket put his hand on his forehead, Peridot doing the same. Tony just stared at him, debating with himself if he should do something or normally stoic Garnet was showing signs of uncomfortableness. Scott was just doing nodding his head to everything the God of Thunder said, with smile that was fading from his face only to appear again a second later.

''Wooooh, scary beings. So Jane..." An image of Jane Foster popped on the screen, "Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead..." He paused, looking down broken, and it looked like was on the verge of tears at the mention of his mother, Asgard, and Jane, which made everyone just stare at him, "...and oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever.''

Tony finally stepped forward and tried to move Thor away, "Why don't you sit down?"

''I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence." Thor finished his explanation about Aether.

"Awesome." Tony stated, "Eggs? Breakfast?"

"No." Thor declined his offer with, shaking his head, "I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."

By the time their meal which happened to be some chinese food they already started discussing another Infinity Stone. They all sat around one table, enjoying their meal, even Garnet and Peridot who were eating only from time to time were eating.

Rocket was pacing around the table in front of everyone, telling them about the Power Stone, "Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag.''

''Is that a person?" Scott asked.

Azurite shook his head, struggling to keep his food with sticks, "Morag is a planet as I recall. An abandoned one to be exact."

"A planet?" Scott asked, looking up at Rocket, "Like in outer space?"

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." Rocket said, imitating talking to a puppy, poking Scott on his forehead, "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll get you to space."

"Hey, Nebula." Shi'ra said Nebula, noticing that the cyborg was having troubles with eating with sticks, "Do you want a fork? It'll be much easier."

"No." Nebula shook her head, her attention still focused on her meal, and more importantly the stick. She fought monsters three times larger than her, she could do it, "I can do this."

She tried to pick it up once again, but her meal fell down the moment she was about to take a bite. She groaned in frustation as Shi'ra held out a fork towards her. The cyborg sighed in defeat as she grabbed the fork and dug into her meal, finally having a chance to take a bite of her meal.

"See, I told you." Shi'ra said, giving Nebula a quick pat on her back.

"Oh." Azurite said, as he remembered something, opening his device and opening gallery to find a photo he took not that long ago, "Hey, Rocket!"

"Az?" Rocket turned to Azurite.

"Do you want to see Shi'ra as a baby?" Azurite asked, finding the right photo as Shi'ra's eyes shot open at this words. So did Scott's. Did Azurite seriously took a photo of them as a babies?

"What?" Rocket asked as he walked over to Azurite and looked over at the photo of Shi'ra and Scott at the time when they were turned into babies during their first test. The talking raccoon bursted into laughter the moment he saw it.

"You need to send me this!" Rocket shouted, between laughs.

Azurite pressed a few buttons on his device, and said, "Done. You can now find it in the files of your ship."

Rocket nodded his head, grateful, still laughing as he went over to his meal to finish it.

"You actually took a photo of us?" Shi'ra asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Azurite confirmed with a nod of his head, sending her a quick smile. She was always the one to tease him about something, like the time when Spinel got him to sing the first phases of a song, or when he has to act as a stern teacher during his fight classes. He was glad the tables have turned around, ''You were the one always teasing me about something." He pointed out, "I'm glad tables have turned around even for a second."

Shi'ra shook her head, she and Scott looking embarassed over the fact that someone took a photo of them as a babies, "Good point..."

When everyone were done with their meal, they went back to the planning room. Nebula was standing in front of the entire group as she was telling them about the Soul Stone. Natasha was writing some notes of their in her notebook.

''Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." Nebula informed Romanoff as Black Widow was taking notes of everything she said.

"What is Vormir?" Natasha asked, in business like tone.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where..." Nebula paused for a second, "Thanos murdered my sister."

Nat looked up at Nebula, as awkward silence filled the room, everyone just stared the cyborg. The silence was thankfully broke by Scott, "Not it.''

By the time when they started discussing the Time Stone, it was already getting late. Everyone scrambled around the room, neither laying or sitting on the ground.

Nat was surrounded by papers as she asked, while laying on the table, Tony was laying next to her, "That Time Stone guy..."

"He called himself Strange." Jasper said, leaning against the wall. She had a chance to meet this guy five years ago on Titan.

''Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?" Natasha asked.

"Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit from a hat." Tony answered.

"Nice place in the village, though." Bruce remarked, laying on the floor.

"Yeah. Sullivan Street." Tony confirmed.

"Hmm... Bleecker." Bruce muttered.

"He lived in New York?" Garnet said as realization began forming on her head.

"No. He lived in Toronto." Tony rolled his eyes.

"And Loki's scepter contained the Mind Stone?" Garnet asked.

"Yes." Steve said with a nod of his head, sitting on the floor.

"And the Tesseract contained the Space Stone?" Garnet asked another question, looking over at Thor.

Thor gave a lazy, "Mhm.." in response. It seemed like he was seconds away from falling asleep.

"Then..." Garnet said, "If we pick the right year, then there are three stones on Earth in the same city at the same time."

Bruce sat up in suprise, "Shut the front door."

Amethyst summoned her whip and used it to shut the doors.

Peridot's eyes widened in suprise, giving a suprised, "Oh. That's a rather welcoming revelation." in response as she removed her visiors to rub her eyes.

* * *

The next day everyone were standing in front of the holograms displaying the different locations, the Soul and Power Stones in space in 2014. the Reality Stone in Asgard, 2013, and the Space, Mind, and Time Stones in New York City, 2012.

They were ready to do this, they already had a plan, they formed it yesterday. They knew where to go and who should go where. All they had to do now was to get the stones and use them to bring everyone back.

"All right. We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot." Steve said, as he stood in the front of the group, He and everyone else looking at thescreens determinedly.

"Let's suit up." Tony declared, everyone agreed with him.

Everyone headed out from the room and went towars armory to get themselves ready for the mission. Azurite walked along with Shi'ra, Garnet, Jasper, Amethyst and Peridot. All of them having one thing on their minds. They haven't contacted Little Homeworld, or Homeworld in days. They told the group that they will join them as fast as they can and split up to inform some gems about everything that happened in recent days.

Azurite and Shi'ra opened their device and each of them called different gems. Their calls were answered almost immediately. Azurite's device showed them Centi and Biggs Jasper while Shi'ra's device showed Blue Diamond, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl. All five of the gems they just contacted looked at the entire group.

"Oh my stars, you finally called. We've been actually growing worried that something happened to you." Centi asked, Biggs nodded her head to her question.

"You haven't contacted us in days." Biggs added.

"Something has something happened? Do you require our help?" Blue Diamond asked, bad scenario instantly appearing in her mind.

"No, we actually have some good news." Amethyst explained.

"Oh, what is it?" Centi wanted to know, crossing her arms.

"We want you to be ready for no matter what happens. You need to be ready for absolutely _anything_ that may occur.." Garnet explained.

"What are you talking about?" Yellow Pearl asked, raising her brow in confusion.

Garnet's answer was, "What I'm trying to say is that we may have found a way how to bring everyone back."

* * *

**Well, the next chapter is going to be the start of the time heist.**


	34. Time

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us."

The sun shined through the windows of the Avengers headquarters, sending arrays of light into the building, allowing them to spread across the floor of the headquarters.

It was when the door to the armory opened, and the group of the Avengers marched into the building, that was completely silent just a second.

''We lost friends... We lost family... We lost a part of ourselves.''

Steve Rogers lead the group of the Avengers, which consisted of humans, aliens, and gems alike, through the building, wearing the Quantum Suit, as his shield was resting on his forearm. His face was filled with pure determination. Natasha Romanoff walked behind him, confident expression on her face. Her hair tied into the ponytail that was falling down her back. Alongside her, Tony Stark, Scott Lang, Clint Barton and Nebula marched forward, all of them wearing the Quantum Suit.

''Today, we have a chance to take it all back."

Garnet and Amethyst followed the group as they were the next ones in the march of the Avengers. Garnet's visiors were covering her eyes, just like the Quantum Suit covered her entire body. A confident smile formed on Amethyst's face as she walked by her side. Jasper and Peridot were right behind them, the orange gem and green gem walked side by side. Jasper marched proudly in her Quantum Suit, her helmet was already on her head. Peridot's Quantum Suit shielded her Arc Reactor, as the small green gem adjusted her visiors, a determined expression on her face. This was the chance all of them were asking for these 5 years, and they had to make it work.

''Get the stones, get them back."

Azurite and Shi'ra marched by each other sides, their bodies covered with the Quantum Suit. Azurite summoned his claws a moment before stepping out from armory, and they were already resting on his fingers, as Shi'ra's plasma casters, old and new alike rested on her shoulders. Rocket Raccon marched between them, the talking raccoon willing to do all he could to bring the only family he ever had back. Right behind them, Thor Odinson, James Rhodes and Bruce Banner marched at the end of the group. The final end to the brave souls willing to take that jump. To try the chance that was given to them.

''One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know.''

The teams were set. The time machine was ready. They all reached the Quantum Tunnel and walked up the pathway to stand on its center. Everyone took a moment to observe one another, to take note of every team and every Avenger present. The largest team was Steve and Tony's. They were, in total, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Garnet, Azurite, Peridot and Jasper. Their mission lied with the most Infinity Stones, so they needed the numbers.

Next to them, the smaller team consisting of Thor, Rocket and Amethyst stood ready for the time heist they've been preparing for these past few days. Their mission would lead them to the home of the God of Thunder to the time when Reality Stone happened to to stuck in the body of Thor's former love, Jane Foster.

Right by their side stood the smallest team at the ready, just like everyone else. Black Widow and Hawkeye were side by side. The best friends meeting the eyes of Captain America and Iron Man. Their mission was to the Soul Stone. They had to acquire by any means necessary, no matter what.

The final team consisted of James Rhodes, Nebula and Shi'ra, each of them standing proudly in their Quantum Suits, which even managed to overcome Rhodey's War Machine armor. Their mission was The Temple of the Power Stone in 2014 on a planet called Morag. When they would find the Orb, then they would find the Power Stone.

''But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. Today you're a team, all of you. You're all Avengers. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes." Steve said with a nod directed at Iron Man. Tony Stark smirked to him, watched as Steve sent that same promise to the rest of his team. To every Avenger willing to take that risk, "Good luck."

"Impressive speech." Garnet said, sending Captain America a smile and a thumbs up.

"Oh, thank the stars, I thought I was the only one that got chills from this." Amethyst stated, placing her hand on her chest.

"Aye, he's really good at that." Rocket commented, looking up at the first Avenger.

"Right?" Scott nodded his head, chuckling, looking quite excited about this time travel thing.

Tony cleared his throat, ''All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green."

Banner was pressing the coordinates onto the machine as he answered, "Tractors engaged."

''You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket said to Clint, addressing to the his shrunk ship in Clint's hand

''Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best." Clint promised, observing the shrunk ship in his hand.

"So, it is Rocket's ship then?" Jasper asked, remembering the debate they had over who's ship Natasha and Clint should take with them to Vormit. Azurite's or Rocket's.

"They pulled straws. You may guess who lost." Shi'ra informed, smiled at her roommate as she stood with her team. Jasper gave an amused chuckle in response while Azurite rolled her eyes in response as they stood side by side with Cap's and Stark's team.

"It is safer for Rocket's ship to go instead of mine because his ship is more modern than mine." Azurite pointed out.

"Whatever you say, brother." Shi'ra send him a grin in response.

Natasha smiled excitedly, "See you in a minute."

She slapped her left wrist.

Clint followed.

Peridot did too.

So did Rhodes.

Every Avenger on the Quantum Tunnel pressed down on their Time Travel GPS, as the red lights on their suits started to ignite themselves.

As the masks materialized over their faces they were ready.

Ready to go back in time. Ready to bring every Infinity Stone to their times. Ready to bring everyone that Thanos' killed in his snap back.

Just like Cap said. Whatever it takes.

Then the entire group of the Avengers shrunk down microscopic size and only continued to shrink from that point on as they fell into the limitless world of the Quantum Realm. Those four teams all split up at different intervals, going to different vortexes, going to different place at a different time in history

* * *

New York 2012

A massive blue and black hole in the sky could be seen hanging right above the city of New York, allowing an army of beings from space attack the city, unleashing an army of Chitauri chariots, Levathians, and foot soldiers onto the city.

Luckily the city wasn't completely helpess towards the invasion. A certain group of remarkable people stood among the the battlefield, against the forces that were clearly outnumbering them. The Chitauri sliding down the building they were covering lowered their mask, screaming towards this group of these people.

The Incredible Hulk roared at his enemies.

Clint Barton loaded another arrow onto his bow.

Thor Odinson twirled his hammer, glaring at the army of Chitauri.

Natasha Romanoff reloaded her pistol.

Steve Rogers tightened his shield.

Tony Stark landed between him and the Hulk in his Iron Man armor.

They stood together, as a team, the team that stopped Loki Odinson, the team that saved the New York City.

Elsewhere, another group of remarkable people and gems alike appeared in the alleyway away from them, right after a shock wave his the same alleyway. They grew from their microscopic sizes and grew to their original height, well it didn't made much difference to one of them as she was already one the smallest people they've met.

Captain America took a step forward, his shield in hand, as he observed his surroundings to see if they had made it to the correct time. When he noticed the portal right above the city, he knew that they traveled to the correct place at the correct time. He turned back to his group as their suit shrunk into the devices on their hands.

''All right, we all have our assignments. Two Stones uptown, one Stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock." He spoke up to the group to which they nodded their heads in understanding.

Out of the sudden, a roar brought their attention to the street. Holding a car above his head, Hulk slammed the vehicle onto the Chitauri, killing it the moment the vehicle crashed upon it. But the green beast wasn't done with the Chitauri. He proceeded to hop over the car, over and over again. A nearby alien spotted it, even raised his weapon to attack the Hulk, but in the last moment decided it wasn't a good idea and ran away, right before the hulking beast ran after him.

Everyone turned back to Bruce Banner the moment Hulk disappeared from their sight. Banner covered his head, embarassed.

"Feel free to smash a few things along the way." Steve told him.

Banner sighed as he ripped his shirt off his body, saying, "I think it's gratuitous, but whatever.''

He stepped out from the alleyway and walking towards the nearby car. He lightly punched it, making a small dent, all while making growling noises. He picked up a motorbike and threw it at the building, wincing as it hit the wall, before turning back to his team.

Everyone stared weirdly at Bruce's tries to imitate the Hulk as Peridot spoke up to them, "At least he's trying..."

"...Yeah" Azurite agreed with her.

Jasper was about to step forward and join Banner as he felt two hands on her shoulders. She took glances between two sides. Garnet was on the right, Azurite was on the left.

"Good luck, Jasper." Garnet told her.

"Do your best to get that stone, friend." Azurite added. He'd never except that a gem that called him defective during their first meeting would become one of his closest friends.

Jasper gave both of them a nod of her in response as their hands left her shoulder. She stepped forward and shared a quick look with Peridot, the two of them having history of being the gems that came to Earth all those years ago where they came across Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Steven. Now both of them were here, traveling back in time to bring half of the universe back to life.

She walked up to Banner who was waiting for them, saying, "Let's go." to him.

Bruce nodded as both of them went off to the Time Stone, doing their best to not get spotted by anyone in the city. Him being here would not raise any suspicious but Jasper's presence would definitely raise some.

As they were making their way to for the place where they would find Stephen Strange, and more importantly, the Time Stone, the Masters of the Mystic of Arts have taken the action to protect the city from the invasion of the Chitauri, their job was normally to protect the Earth from mystical threats, but sometimes, in the situations like this they had to take the action to battle the things like Chitauri.

The Ancient One stood on the roof, doing her best to protect her sanctum with the powers of Sorcerer Supreme. The Chitauri Chariots that even passed the building with no intentions of attacking it were taken out with her Eldritch Magic. She paused and titled her head to the side, orange disk spinning over her hands sparked, but she did not attacked because it neither Chitauri Chariot, or Chitauri foot soldier.

Bruce Banner and Jasper landed on the roof, and the first thing they did, without taking a look around if anyone was on the roof beside them, was to walk to the nearest door.

''I'd be careful going that way. We just had the floors waxed." She spoke up to them, as they turned to the source of her voice and saw her.

''...Ma'am, we're looking for Doctor Strange." Banner said to her after a moment of looking at her.

''You're about... five years too early. Stephen Strange is currently performing surgery about twenty blocks that way." the Ancient One explained, "What do you want from him?"

Jasper's eyes went down towards the necklace Ancient One wore, coming to a realization that Strange wore the same during their battle with Thanos on Titan five years ago. She took step forward, pointing at the Eye of Agamotto, "We came here for that."

The Ancient One looked down at her necklace, now knowing the real reason why these two came here in the first place, "Ah! I'm afraid not.''

Jasper and Banner shared a look with each other, before they took a step forward, with Banner saying to Ancient One, "Sorry, but we didn't came here to ask."

''You don't wanna do this." the Ancient One warned them.

''Ah, you're right, I don't." Bruce said, extending his hand towards the Eye of Agamotto to grab it.

"We need it far more than you do..." Jasper added

The moment when Bruce was about to grab the Eye of Agamotto, was the moment when the Ancient One took the action to protect the relic she swore to protect. She slammed her hands on Banner's and Jasper's chest, watching how Astral Plane accepted their bodies. Bruce and Jasper could only watch how their now lifeless bodies crashed down on the roof, as they hovered above them.

''Let's start over, shall we?" She told them.

"What happened to us?" Jasper asked, with Bruce nodding his head in agreement, looking down at her body in shock, having no idea that anything would be possible on her.

"Don't worry, both of you. It completely harmless. I can give your bodies back whenever you ask for." the Ancient One assured them, "Which is not going happen soon considering there is something both of you wish to discuss with me."

''We don't have time to discuss! We need that stone by any means!" Jasper told her, knowing that other were counting on her and Banner to get this stone, "You'd never guess what happens in the future!"

"I wouldn't say that." the Ancient One smirked.

Bruce Banner sighed, rubbing his palms, "There was a guy named Thanos. He wiped half of all life within the universe with all six of the Infinity Stone five years ago in 2018. One of them is hanging on your neck. All of us tried our best to stop him but we couldn't. They made him too powerful, none of us could hold him off for long. After he wiped half of life, we managed to track down his location three weeks later. We all thought it'll be our chance to bring everyone back but we were wrong. He destroyed the stones two days before we found him. "

Jasper continued, "For the next five years we've been dealing with the effects, until we finally found a possible way how to undo everything he did. We need to bring your stone back with us, to our time."

"So, can you help us?" Banner asked the Ancient One, in more of pleading tone.

''No." Her answer was simple and quick.

''Why?" Jasper asked her, raising her brow. Why wouldn't she help them?

"I'm sorry, I can't help you, both of you." the Ancient One apologized for them for refusing to help, "If I give up the Time Stone to help your reality, _I'm dooming my own._"

''With all due respect, I'm not sure the science really supports that." Banner stated, technically it was more of mutter but the Ancient One was able to hear what he said without problem.

The Ancient One stared at both of them, her expression hardening at the horrible truth her visitors were unaware of. She lifted her arm up, releasing a line of Eldritch Magic across her, Jasper and Bruce. The magic formed a projection between all three of them. All of the Infinity Stones were circling around the projection of the timeline she created to explain to know everything they didn't know.

''The Infinity Stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one stone and that flow splits.'' Ancient One began explaining what would it meant for her timeline if one of the Infinity Stones just disappeared, removing the one resembling the Time Stone in her projection. Bruce and Jasper narrowed their eyes watching how the projection of timeline changed out of the sudden. Changed into a black sicked version of reality.

They watched carefully everything she was presenting to them, as the Ancient One continued, "Now, this may benefit your reality, but my new one…not so much. In this new branched Reality, without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, Doctor, can your science prevent all that?''

"It's just like we assumed." Jasper muttered to herself, recalling what Banner told Rhodey in the moment when he asked if they couldn't just kill Thanos before he'd even have a chance to get close to the stones.

''No, but we can erase it. Because once we are done with the stones, we can return each one to its own timeline at the moment it was taken." Banner stated as grabbed the projection of the Time Stone, and placed it right back with the five other stones. The timeline went back to it's old shimmering state. The state before the Ancient One removed the Time Stone, "So, chronologically, it _never _left."

Though she had admit that she was suprised by Bruce's idea, because it was something she hadn't thought of, the Ancient One was still not conviced, "But you are leaving out the most important part. In order to return the stones, you have to survive."

''_We will. _I promise." Bruce assured her to which Jasper nodded her head in agreement.

''I can't risk this Reality on a promise." Ancient One stated, as Bruce's and Jasper's expressions fell apart at her words, "It is the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone."

''Then, why the hell did Strange give it away?" Banner asked her. Tony, Peridot and Jasper told everyone about Strange giving the Time Stone to Thanos a long time ago.

The Ancient One's eyes shot open in suprise, "What did you say?''

''Strange, he gave it away. He gave it to Thanos." Banner repeated himself.

''Willingly?" the Ancient One wanted to know everything about the situation Bruce mentioned to her.

"Yes, he did it willingly! I was there when it happened. He just gave it away and when we asked him why he did, all he said was "_We're in the endgame now_"." Jasper confirmed what Banner just said to the Ancient One.

Ancient One titled her head to the gem, "You were there when it happened?"

"Yes. I just said it." Jasper answered, crossing her arms.

"Was there anything else he said that caught your attention?" the Ancient One wanted to know. Stephen Strange was meant to be the best of them, he wouldn't just give the Time Stone away. He just wouldn't.

"Before our battle with Thanos, before he arrived on Titan, Strange told us that he saw possible outcomes of how our fight with him will end." Jasper answered.

"He saw possible outcomes of your clash with Thanos? How many of them was there?" the Ancient One asked another question, coming closer to Jasper.

''14,000,605." Jasper responded, recalling the number of the outcomes Doctor Strange told her and everyone else on Titan.

''And in how many have you succeeded?" the Ancient One continued asking questions regarding everything Jasper knew about Strange.

Jasper sighed before replying, "...One."

The Ancient One stared at Jasper, as Bruce stated, "Maybe he made a mistake."

''Or I did." the Ancient One stated. Before Jasper and Banner had a chance to ask what she meant by that, she shot out both of their hands, pulling their bodies from the ground. She moved them towards Bruce and Jasper and merged them together, the two of them finally being able to use their bodies again. Then she moved one of her hands towards her necklace and opened it, pulling out the Time Stone. The stone was floating between her fingers, as she held it to Banner and Jasper, who only stared at her in confusion. Five minutes ago she was willing to die for the Time Stone, but now she was just giving it away for them.

They got their answer why she now giving it to them a moment later, "Strange is meant to be the best of us.''

''...So he must have done it for a reason." Banner stated.

Jasper nodded her head to that. Was this what Strange meant by saying "_There was no other way?_" before shattering into ash in front of her, Tony, Peridot, Peter, Nebula, just a second before all of them had to witness Spider-Man's demise? Did losing to Thanos when they tried to stop him was the only way to defeat him in the end? It all started to make sense to her. If they brought the stones back to their timeline and brought everyone back, then he wouldn't try to stop them because Thanos in their timeline was long gone.

''I fear you might be right.'' the Ancient One said to Bruce with fear overcoming her facial features.

As the Ancient One handed Bruce the Time Stone, he closed his palm over it, "Thank you."

"We appreciate it." Jasper said, understanding the risk the Ancient One was taking by giving them the Time Stone.

Her left hand gripped his large hands, while the other gripped Jasper's arm, as she looked up at both of them, her voice was practically begging them, "I'm counting on you. We all are."

In response to her words, Bruce and Jasper nodded their heads in understanding, as the Ancient's One hands pulled away from their bodies.

"One down..." Banner muttered to himself.

He and Jasper shared a quick look with each other, before they glanced down at their Time Travel GPS'.

They pressed them down as the Quantum Suit overcame their whole bodies.

Right after their masks closed tight, they shrunk down to microscopic size, returning to their present times.

* * *

**Here we go with the time heist!**


	35. Mind

Tony Stark gripped the building as he was scanning through the of the Stark Tower. He wasn't alone. Scott Lang was with him as he was shrunk down on Stark's shoulder. In this position, Scott Lang had a chance to take a good look at the aftermath of Loki's Odinson's invasion. Dead Leviathans layed on the top of the building, some of them experiencing massive destruction, some of them don't. The streets were filled with destroyed vehicles, trees, and many other things. Scott may have heard about the Battle of New York, and had seen some photos and videos from this day where the Avengers saved the Earth, but seeing it by his very own eyes made his day even more disturbing to him.

The other Avengers were readying themselves to take the two stones that were in this building at this moment as well. Steve Rogers was already in the Stark Tower and in position. Garnet was in her position as well, waiting in the place where she was going to met up with Captain America after the first Avenger will retrieve the scepter with the Mind Stone. Azurite and Peridot were in their position as well, on the ground floor of the tower, right in the main lobby of the building, both of them changed their clothes into S.H.I.E.L.D armor.

Stark zoomed forward and was able to take a look at the moment when he along with the past version of his fellow Avengers confronted the God of Mischief in defeated and beaten state. After the portal was blown and Tony had blown up the Chitauri that were going through it, all they had to was to get Loki and hand him over to Thor who was going to take him to Asgard, where he'd receive a proper punishment for his actions.

''Got to hustle, Cap. Things look like they're just about wrapped up here." Tony told Captain America through his comms.

"_Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now._" Steve Rogers' response sounded in Stark's ears.

"Are you in position, three eyes?" Tony then called over to Garnet to be sure if the fusion was in the position or not.

"_I am._" Garnet responded.

"Peri, Az?" Tony called over to the last members of his team.

Azurite quickly answered, "_We're in._"

"_We're waiting for you two come down here with the briefcase._" Peridot added.

Tony nodded his head to everyone's confirmations of being in the positions they were assigned to in their missions as he dropped off the building he was holding into and flied over to the shattered window of the Stark Tower. The moment he set his foot in the building, he pressed his Arc Reactor and his armor disappeared from his body in just a matter of a second. Taking the cover behind the nearest wall, Stark was observed how the past version of him and other five Avengers confronted Loki.

The God of Mischief weakly pushed himself up the ground and stared up at all six Avengers, weakly declaring, ''If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now."

The Incredible Hulk grunted to Loki's comment as the past version of Tony Stark broke off from the rest of the group, heading towards the elevator in his heavilly damaged Iron Man suit, "All right, get him on his feet. We can all stand around posing up a storm later. By the way, feel free to clean up."

Stark watched how Thor slapped a pair of Asgardian cuffs on his brothers wrists before pulling him back to his feet, before smirking, when he eyes went over to Captain America and went lower, ''Uh, Mr. Rogers. I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass."

Steve's answer to Tony's statement quickly came in the comms, "_No one asked you to look, Tony._"

''It's ridiculous." Tony stated, shaking his head a little, his eyes still on Cap's lower

"I think you look great captain. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass." Scott said as he rised up on Stark's shoulder, giving a salute.

"_Okay, can we stop talking about Steve's beautiful ass and just focus on the mission?_" Azurite asked, but didn't got any answer from everyone the in team, which obviously confused him, "_What?_"

"Az, did you just admitted that Steve has beautiful ass?" Tony asked him.

Stark could imagine how Azurite's eyes shot open in realization at what he just said, "_No! I didn't!_"

"_Yes, you did._" Peridot spoke up, clearly grinning up at the male gem as they were still waiting for Stark, Scott and everyone else on the ground floor, "_Did you forget that I'm standing right next to you?_"

Everyone in their team could hear Azurite letting out an annoyed sigh, as Peridot added, "_You should feel lucky that Shi'ra went with Rhodey and Nebula. I can already imagine her reminding you about it just to annoy you._"

"_Oh, be quiet, Peridot._" Azurite shushed her as Garnet could be heard letting out a small laugh.

Tony's attention quickly shifted when he spotted Natasha Romanoff carying Loki's scepter in her hand, asking, "Uhh, magic wand?

His younger version answer was, ''STRIKE team's coming to secure it."

Iron Man's eyes shot open when he heard a noise coming from an elevator behind him, as he quickly turned around towards it and saw the door opening itself. He quickly went off to hide himself away from their sight in order to avoid getting caught. The entrance of the elevator opened and out stepped Agent Brock Rumlow and Agent Jasper Sitwell, followed by eight more agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. behind them.

They carried two briefcases with them. One was already containing the Tesseract and the Space Stone while the other empty one was much longer and rectangular in shape. A perfect fit for the the scepter Natasha Romanoff was holding.

When they approached all six Avengers and Loki, Sitwell came over to Black Widow, asking her to hand the scepter, "We can take that off your hands."

After handing him Loki's scepter, Natasha turned away from the agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and walked over to Clint Barton who was pouring himself and herself some whiskey from the bottle he found laying around, "By all means. Careful with that thing."

Clint handed his best friend a glass filled with the liquor before they looked over at Sitwell, "Unless you want your mind erased. And _not_ in a fun way."

Tony and Scott proceeded to watch the scene from their hiding place, the first recalling every moment that was happening now. Sitwell eyed the scepter for a second as he walked over to Rumlow who opened the rectangular briefcase, allowing him to place the scepter containing the Mind Stone in it.

''Who are these guys?" Scott asked him, his attention focused on Rumlow and Sitwell.

"They are S.H.I.E.L.D..." Tony paused for a second, "Well, actually Hydra. But, we didn't know that yet."

"Seriously, you didn't?" Ant-Man asked, gesturing towards Sitwell and Rumlow, watching how the latter agent closed the briefcase, "I mean...they look like bad guys."

''You're small, but you're talking loud." Tony stated, sending Scott a quick glance.

"_It sounds like someone we know, very well, right?_" Garnet asked, referring to a certain green gem.

Everyone realized to who she was referring to. Peridot let out an annoyed "_Hey!_" in response to the fusion words.

"Why are you so angry about it, Peri?" Tony asked the small green gem through the comms, "You know it's the truth."

The 2012 version of Steve Rogers walked past Loki and Thor, saying to his earpiece, "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue."

Green color quickly overcame Loki's body as he turned himself into Captain America, "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!..." He quickly transformed himself back into normal self, adding, "I mean, honestly! How do you think you'll be..."

"Shut." Thor cut his brother off, slapping a mouthpiece on his mouth to make him quiet, "Up."

Everyone began heading off to their next tasks as The God of Thunder grabbed his adopted brother by his shoulder and began leading him into the elevator, along the Hulk who grabbed Loki's other hand while Tony's and Scott's eyes were focused on the past self of Iron Man that was in the process of closing the briefcase with the Tesseract.

"All right, you're up, little buddy." Stark said, his eyes not leaving the briefcase with the Tesseract, "There's our stone."

Scott nodded his head to that, "Alright. Flick me.''

Tony instantly reacted to his words. He lifted his finger and flicked Ant-Man off his shoulder towards his younger self and the Tesseract. Scott landed right in the middle of the briefcase as he jumped onto the arm of the younger Iron Man and climbed up while the older Tony quickly made his escape from the room through the shattered window, his suit overcoming his entire body the moment he jumped through it.

The Hulk made his way over to the elevator, walking behind Thor and Loki. After Tony took his seat on the briefcase that contained the Space Stone, he, Thor and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D that were with them in the elevator extended their hands forward, preventing the Hulk from entering the elevator.

"Whoa, whoa. Hey! Buddy. What do you think?" Tony asked the Hulk, as the green Avenger gave him, Thor, Loki and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D a glare that would burn an entire forest, "Maximum occupancy has been reached."

"Take the stairs." Thor added, gesturing to the flight with the stairs.

"Yeah." Tony agreed with him as the elevator doors began closing. Loki waved playfully to the Hulk before the latter one roared and drew his fist forward at the closing door, "Stop! Stop!..."

The last thing that the Hulk did before the elevator doors closed completely was sending a punch towards it, making a dent in it. Black Widow and Hawkeye watched him from the side of the room while they were enjoying their drinks.

The Hulk was obviously angry as he began making his way towards the flight with the stairs, saying angrily to himself, "Take the stairs! Hate the stairs!"

* * *

Tony was hovering above the ground in his Iron Man suit in front of the Stark Tower, scanning through the building, trying to locate the current location of Rumlow, Sitwell and the Mind Stone. He finally spotted them in the elevator, as he called out to Captain America to inform him about it, "All right, Cap. I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the 80th floor.''

''On it. Head to the lobby." Steve assured him as he stood in front of the elevator, pressing a button to stop it at the floor he was currently in.

The elevator doors broke apart, allowing Captain America to enter the elevator. He could feel how gaze of every agent of S.H.I.E.L.D in the elevator went towards him. He took one step inside and pressed the button. The doors behind him closed as the elevator continued it's descent to the ground.

Sitwell eyed him for a moment, "Captain. I thought you were coordinating search and rescue?"

Steve's answer was short and quick, "Change of plans."

The next few seconds in the elevator were quiet. The tense silence filled the entire elevator, until it was broken by Brock Rumlow, who slightly turned his head towards the first Avenger, "Hey, Cap."

Cap nodded his head, turning to him for a second, "Rumlow."

This rather short exchange of the words was followed by another tense silence, only this time, the tension was growing bigger and bigger with every second. One of the agents even reached for his belt, unlocking his pistol and letting his hand rest on it.

"I just got a call from the Secretary." Steve declared, "I'm gonna be running point on the scepter."

Everyone in the elevator turned towards him. Sitwell turned around himself to fully face Captain America, "Sir? I don't understand."

"We got word there may be an attempt to steal it." Steve informed him.

Rumlow glanced over at him, "Sorry, Cap. I can't give you the scepter."

''I'm gonna have to call the Director." Sitwell stated, reaching over to his phone.

"That's okay. Trust me." Steve assured everyone in the elevator as he slowly leaned in towards Sitwell. Close to his ear. Sitwell just stared at him, curious what he may say to him, but in the million years, a thought that those words will ever ever leave Captain's America's mouth crossed his mind.

"_Hail Hydra._"

Everyone in the elevator stared at the first Avenger, shock overcoming their facial features as all of them heard what he had just said to Jasper Sitwell. Sitwell and Rumlow shared a look with each other, neither of them knowing what to say, before they turned to the Star Spangled Man. A knowing smile slowly growing on his face.

And with that, Steve Rogers walked out from the elevator a smirk growing on his lips as he turned to the left and was met with Garnet, the fusion smilling at the view of the briefcase in Steve's hands.

"That went well." She told him, as they walked side by side, not having to hear any noise of fight from the elevator.

Steve nodded his head in agreement to her words, relieved that he avoided another fight in the elevator, something he failed to avoid in the past.

* * *

Tony, Thor, Loki and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D walked through the elevator and made their way into the main lobby of the Stark Tower, where they were greeted by even more S.H.I.E.L.D agents, all of them armed to the teeth.

Three of those agents stood in the background, trying to stay away from the crowd of people that were in the lobby at his moment. Tony Stark dressed himself into the armor he borrowed from now unconscious agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, or rather he was unconscious when Stark saw him for the last time. He turned around for a second to the other two agents who were no other than Peridot and Azurite, sending a quick nod to the two gems who stood a few metres away from him. Azurite and Peridot nodded their heads back at him.

''Thumbelina, do you copy? I've got eyes on the prize." Tony called over to Scott.

"So have we." Azurite spoke up from his position.

'' It's time." Peridot added.

"Bombs away." Scott said in response to their calls as, sliding down 2012 Tony's face, catching onto his beard. Tony scratched his beard, causing the Ant-Man to fall down into his shirt, allowing him to grip into Stark's Arc Reactor, "Is... is that Axe body spray?"

''Yeah, I had a can just for emergencies." Tony answered, "Relax. Can we focus, please?"

"I'm going inside." Scott informed him and two gems as he shrunk down to even smaller size, allowing him to climb into the insides of Tony's Arc Reactor.

The rest of the team watched how another group approached younger Tony, Thor, Loki and other agents. Stark sighed when he recognized face of a familiar S.H.I.E.L.D secretary stopped in front of him to greet his past self.

''May I ask you where you're going?" Alexander Pierce demanded to know.

"To lunch and then Asgard." Thor informed as he eyed Pierce in confusion for a second, not having a chance to met him before, "I'm sorry, you are?"

Tony turned to Thor to explain to the God of Thunder who this man was, "Alexander Pierce. He's the man, one of the folks behind Nick Fury."

''My friends call me Mr. Secretary." Pierce added as he gestured towards Loki behind Thor and Tony, "I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me."

''Loki will be answering to Odin himself." Thor stated in response, earning a roll of the eyes from Loki.

Pierce however, wasn't going to let go, that easily, "Oh, he's gonna answer to us. Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case, that's been S.H.I.E.L.D property for over 70 years."

One of the agents stepped forward, reaching his hand towards the brieface with the Tesseract, only for Tony to pull it away, causing the agent to say, "Hand over the case, Stark.''

Tony, Azurite, and Peridot watched the scene unfold before them before Stark turned his gaze away from it for a moment to inform Scott about it, "All right, move it, Stuart Little. Things are getting dicey up here. Let's go."

Scott landed in front of the pin, the part of the the Arc Reactor that was keeping it turned on, asking, "You promise me you won't die?"

''You're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia." Tony explained to him.

"I'm not an expert in human conditions but it doesn't sound mild to me." Azurite stated.

"That makes us both." Scott agreed with Azurite, as he grabbed the pin, intending to pull it off.

Tony turned his gaze back to the group that was still fighting over the case with the Tesseract, and things were getting... more heated to say the least, Peridot and Azurite didn't failed to noticed it as well.

"I need that case." Pierce said in a demanding tone, gesturing towards the briefcase.

''I know you got a lotta pull. I'm just saying..." Tony didn't had a chance to finish what he was saying as Pierce grabbed his arm, holding it strongly in his grip.

"Okay. Then give me the case." The secretary of S.H.I.E.L.D said, trying to take the briefcace away from Tony, but Stark was refusing to let it go.

"Get your hands off!" He shouted to Pierce.

"Do it!" Peridot said to Scott.

Tony added soon after, "Window's closing. Pull my pin!"

"...Here it goes!" Scott said as he pulled Tony's pin up, turning Stark's Arc Reactor off.

In a matter of a second, the glowing Arc Reactor underneath Tony Stark's shirt began to flicker, earning a gasp for life from Iron Man, in shock. He instantly fell on the floor, dropping the briefcase along with him.

"Stark?" Pierce asked the Tony dropped on the floor like a rock thrown into the water. He, and other agents quickly fell on their knees, quickly followed by Thor, who was asking his fellow Avenger what was matter with him. The only answer he got from him was gasping, "Look, he's convulsing. Give him air! Medic!"

"Medic!" Tony called, looking about lazily, "Guy needs help."

"Yeah!" Azurite called out, going along with Tony's cries for help, readying himself to retrieve the briefcase at any moment, "There's someone who need help here!"

"Why is no one coming to help him?!" Peridot added, gesturing towards the younger version of the Avengers.

While Pierce, Thor and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D were trying to figure out how to help Stark, Scott quickly ran out of Tony's shirt and leaped himself forward to the brieface, kicking it over to Tony. Loki who was the only one not paying attention neither Tony or his brother or any of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D furrowed his brows in confusion as the briefcase moved forward, his eyes following it. As the briefcase landed right before Tony's feet, he kicked it over to Peridot and Azurite. The short green gem extended her hand a bit, using her metal powers to make sure the briefcase would end up right before their feet while Tony was just looking around, as if he hadn't just kicked the briefcase containing the Tesseract over to someone else.

Azurite quickly grabbed the briefcase as he and Peridot started making their way out of the main lobby, "We've got it."

"We'll be waiting for you in the alleyway..." Peridot was cut off in the moment when she and Azurite reached the nearest stairwell because from the other side of the door emerged an angered Hulk, and saying that he was angry would be just a gentle way to put it. Azurite and Peridot both collapsed on the floor.

He walked past them, roaring angrily, "**NO! STAIRS!**"

Surrounding crowds of people split up and screamed, making their escape from Stark Tower as the Hulk proceeded to walk behind them, crashing through the exit doors and roaring to the skies above.

The briefcase fell out of Azurite's hands when he crashed on the floor. It landed a few metres away from him and Peridot, opening upon the impact. The Tesseract spun around the room and landed right between Loki's feet. Before neither Tony and Scott could do something about it, the God of Mischief used the opportunity that was given to him and picked up the Tesseract from the floor, using it to teleport himself away from this place.

''You'll be fine, Stark. Stay with us! I'll try something, okay? I have no idea if it's gonna work." Thor said to Tony, slamming his hammer against Iron Man's Arc Reactor, using it as some sort of defibrillator. The reactor got it's bright blue color in an instant, making Thor cheer, "Yes!"

''That worked a treat. That was so crazy!" Tony gasped, finally having a chance to say something.

"I had no idea if that was gonna work." Thor said, grinning at Iron Man.

"The case?" Tony asked.

Thor took his attention off his fellow Avenger to take a look around about the briefcase current whereabouts, not spotting it anywhere in his sight, his brother was gone too, "It's, uhh... Where's the case? Where's Loki? Loki!"

"Oh, this is bad..." Peridot stated the obvious, lifting her head up to take a glance at now empty briefcase.

Tony came over to these two and helped them to get back on their feet, "We blew it, didn't we?"

"We sure did..." Scott stated.

Azurite slammed his fist against the floor, angrily, realizing what this meant, "Oh no..."

* * *

''Guys, is something happening?" Garnet asked, receiving nothing but static from the other comms in response. She and Steve walked through the hallways of the Stark Tower.

"Tell us you found that cube.'' Steve added, the large briefcase that held the scepter was held tight in right hand, while his left one wielding his shield. Shaking his head, he repeated his question, but once again't didn't got any answer from neither Tony, Azurite, Peridot or Scott.

It was when their attention shifted forward towards something else, on man approaching them both, making them stop in their tracks in the center of the glass bridge.

Steve groaned, shaking his head the man that just approached them, "...Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

Garnet and Rogers watched how at the mirror image of Captain America blocked their path, narrowing his eyes at the view of them.

The retrieval of the scepter went pretty smoothly for them, Steve not having to fight anyone in that elevator, and Garnet not having to help him if Steve's confrontation with the past version of HYDRA agents ended with a fight.

Something just had to happen to make things more difficult for them and their team...

Then, the younger, version of Captain America rose his hand to his ear, " I have eyes on Loki. 14th floor..." He turned his gaze to Garnet, "There is a woman with visiors covering her eyes with him. I don't know if she's with him or not."

Steve put the briefcace down on the ground, his eyes not leaving his younger self, "I'm not Loki, and she was never working with him."

"We don't want to fight you. Just let us walk away." Garnet added.

Captain America, seemingly unfazed by both of them, gritted his teeth and rushed towards them. Steve was the first one to rush forward towards his younger self, as gauntlets appeared on Garnet's fists in an instant as she ran closely behind him. Captain America swung his shield forward as Steve raised his own to use it as an defensive shield from the Captain's blow. The shields connected, making a loud bang that rang around the entire room. The Captain quickly lowered his shield down, swinging his fist, as Steve did his best to avoid every punches and kicks his younger version sent in his way, but unfortunely for him, one kick from the Captain send him skidding across the bridge.

Garnet knew it was her moment to step forward. She rushed forward at the Captain, swinging her fists forward at him. Both of the powerful blows she sent towards the Captain were blocked by his shield, which was followed by another blows which were blocked just like their predecessors, each one of the blocked blows making a loud bang that would make anyone ears hurt. Her opponent lowered his shield after another blocked punch from them fusion before slamming it against her chest. Garnet stumbled backwards a bit, as the Captain made another move, kicking her and sending her skidding across the bridge.

Captain America stared at them both, "I can do this all day."

Steve sighed, standing up, as Garnet finally stopped skidding, landing on the path that was leading into the bridge, "Yeah, I know. I know."

Instantly after standing up, Steve threw his shield at his younger self, who did the same after seeing it. The shields met in the halfway of the distance between the two Caps and deflected each other off the bridge, away from the grasp of either of the them. They rushed at each other, each of them sending punches and kicks towards each other, but they both managed to either dodge or block every attack from their other self. After spotting an occasion after his younger self hand was in vulnerable position after another avoided punch, he quickly grabbed it and lifted him above his head, and then slammed him down onto the floor of the bridge.

It unfortunely didn't do much as the Captain quickly got himself back on his feet, wrapping his arms around his arms around his older self. Steve tried to free himself off his grasp by kicking him in the stomach, but his first kick didn't do much, while the second one actually did something, but it wasn't anything Steve and Garnet would have wanted. His second kick hit the briefcase that happened to be laying right behind them, breaking the glass. Steve felt himself being hoisted backwards, his back slammed into the bridge and shattering the rest of it.

The two Captains collapsed down, crashing down a set of stairs crashing to the ground alongside the briefcase. The scepter spilled outwards and clattered against the floor upon the impact. The captain's gaze went to the compass with Peggy's Carter picture that must've fell out of Steve's pocket.

He quickly picked it up, asking, "Where did you get this?"

His question went without an answer and Garnet landed right between him and Steve, her gauntleted hands quickly moving towards the scepter to secure it, and the Captain immediately gave up on trying to find the answer by Steve had the same compass as him. He kicked it away from Garnet's hands, and clashed against her again, this time without a shield, but it didn't changed much. Both he and Garnet were effectively avoiding punches from one other, the first one even managing to catch the hand of the other one, while trying dodge a punch from the fusion, and it didn't took much before he caught Garnet's other hand.

It was when these two faced each other, both of them looking into each other eyes as the Captain was holding the fusion's hands tightly in his grip. Garnet headbutted him. This would definitely send a normal human being flying away but Captain America wasn't an ordinary human being. He just stood there, barely touched by it.

In response to her headbutt, the Captain kicked her with both of his feets, knocking her away. With her dealt with, at least for now, he turned to Steve who was moving towards the scepter. He quickly made his over over to him, and kicked it away, unaware that it landed just right in front of Garnet and quickly wrapped his hands around Steve's neck, holding him tightly. He slammed himself and his older self agains the floor, choking him while Steve clenched his teeth, trying to free himself from his grasp.

Seeing the situation Steve was in, Garnet quickly got herself back on her feet and picked up the scepter, before moving towards Steve and Captain.

"_Which one is ours!_" Ruby nervously asked Sapphire inside of Garnet, as the fusion was taking glances between the two captains, the stress caused by the fight making her forget for a second who was who.

"_The one with uncovered head!_" Sapphire quickly reminded her.

As he proceeded to try to break off his younger self grasp, Steve spotted Garnet heading in his way with the scepter in her hands. It was their chance. Their chance to make his younger self lose his consciousness.

He knew the perfect words for it.

"Bucky... is... alive!"

His younger self immediately reacted to this revelation, he broke the grasp he was holding his younger self in, asking in confusion, "What?"

In response to his question, Steve quickly punched him straight in the face, before crawling away from the Captain, making space for Garnet to use the scepter on him. He quickly pressed the pointy end against his chest. Captain America collapsed on the floor, his eyes closed, sleeping.

She glanced over Steve who slowly got himself back on his feet, making sure to pick his shield and his compass, offering a nod to Garnet who held the scepter.

It was when Garnet turned away from him and started to leave, but stopped when she heard that Steve not moved an inch forward. She turned over to him and saw him looking at the backside of his younger self that was facing them.

Steve sighed, grinning, "That is America's ass."

Garnet shook her head and smiled at his words before the two of them made their way out of the Stark Tower, before anyone else could spot their presence.

* * *

**Well, the meeting between 2012 Cap and Garnet from his timeline is definitely going to be a very awkward one...**


	36. Space

Steve Rogers and Garnet thankfully made their way out of the Stark Tower without anyone else spotting their presence which avoided them having to fight someone else than just Captain America from the past. They were heading towards the alleyway where they were supposed to met up with Tony, Scott, Peridot and Azurite, who hopefully acquired the Tesseract without having to deal with as many troubles as they did with the scepter.

The aftermath of the Battle of New York took its toll on the city, the streets were filled with destroyed cars and shattered buildings. Dead Chitauri were scattered about everywhere, but other than that, there were no other lives present, at least for now. The streets were completely empty, but both of them knew that the populace of New York would came out to help pick up the pieces and clean the streets sooner or later.

"Uh, Cap, three eyes." Tony's Stark voice called over as they turned around to it and saw Stark, sitting in a destroyed car with Peridot sitting on the front seat next to him, and Azurite and Scott sitting in the back seats, ''We got a problem."

Scott let out a bittersweet chuckle, "Yeah, we do.''

"What do you mean?" Steve raised his brow.

"We've come across a little complication in our job." Peridot added.

"A _little _complication?" Azurite asked her, "I wish I could call it a little complication."

They told them everything about they needed to know. They told them how they were that close acquiring the Space Stone to the point where Azurite and Peridot were taking it out of the main lobby of the Stark Tower, but then the Hulk slammed through the doors of the flight of stairs which resulted in the two gems dropping the briefcase, and Loki escaping with the stone the second after it landed before his feet.

The silence filled the entire alleyway after they told the story to Steve and Garnet. Rogers just stood next to the the fusion who stood with the scepter in her hands. Scott paced back and forth. Tony remained in the car. Azurite and Peridot got out of the car and leaned against it, both of them having had their arms crossed and defeated expressions overcame their facial features.

''...Well, what are we gonna do now?" Captain America spoke up to them.

"I don't know, captain. I just got hut in the head with the Hulk, or Bruce, I don't know even how should I call him." Azurite stated, cursing himself for losing the stone when they were so close to acquring it.

"Me too." Peridot added, nodding her head, having been hit in the head with the Hulk as well.

''You said that we had one shot!" Scott exclaimed, moving his glance between everyone in his team, "This was our shot. We shot it. It's shot. Six stones or nothing. Six stones or nothing..."

Tony looked up at Scott and pointed at him, "You're repeating yourself, you know that?"

Ant-Man looked at Iron Man, as he retorted, "You're repeating yourself! You're repeating yourself!"

Tony rolled his eyes at Scott's retort, so did Peridot, Steve looked away for a moment, Azurite sighed, shaking his head and Garnet remained stoic.

''Dude, come on." Stark told him, unamused by his retort.

Lang continued, ignoring Tony's comment, and everyone else reaction, ''You never wanted a time heist, you went on board with the time heist..." He gestured towards every other member of the team that tried to acquire the Tesseract, "You ruined the time heist."

"Is that what I did?" Tony asked him.

"Are you really placing blame here?" Azurite asked Scott.

"It wasn't anyone's fault." Peridot added, "We had no idea that the Hulk was going burst through the doors."

Garnet spoke up, having enough of this argument, "Is there any other way we can acquire it?"

Scott shifted his attention towards the fusion, "No, no, no. There's no other ways." He slammed the doors of the car, making Tony jump in his seat a little in suprise, "There's no do-overs. We're not going anywhere else. We have _one _particle left. Each. That's it, alright? We use that, bye, bye. You're not going home."

Tony titled his head when he heard Scott's words, especially at his warning on their particle count. He shot up his eyes from his forearm, widened when the realization appeared in his head.

''Yeah, well if we don't try, then no one else is going home, either." Steve pointed out, finally joining the conversation.

''I got it." Stark said, earning everyone's attention as he got out of the car, slamming the doros before taking a step forward towards Captain America.

"What do you mean?" Azurite raised his brow. Was there really other way to acquire the Tesseract and more importantly the Space Stone without losing a chance to head back to their times.

Tony approached Cap, the latter's brow furrowing at Stark's expression. Steve listened carefully to everything Tony had to saty, "...There's another way. To retake the Tesseract and acquire new particles. We'll stroll down memory lane. Military installation, Garden State.''

''When were they both there?" Steve said when the realization about Tony's new plan struck him.

''They were there at..." Tony paused for a moment, "I've a vaguely exact idea."

''How vague?" Steve wanted to know.

''What are you talking about? Where are we going?" Scott wanted to know.

Not answering to Scott's question, Tony added, "I know for a fact they were there."

''Who's they? What are we doing?" Scott continued asking questions but once again didn't got any answer.

''And I know how I know." Tony continued his explanation to Captain America.

"Guys, what's up? What is it?" Scott asked for the third time.

He finally got his answer, when Steve stated, "Well, it looks like we're improvising."

This answer only raised another question from Ant-Man, ''Right. What are we improvising?"

Stark darted his head to the left, his gaze on a certain short green gem, "Peri." Then he turned hia gaze to Garnet, "Three eyes, with us."

Peridot nodded her head as she walked over to Garnet, Tony, and Steve, eyeing the two latter ones curiously, as Garnet stepped forward from the group, her attention on Azurite.

"Azurite." She called over to him.

Azurite titled his head towards, "Yes, Garnet?"

In response to his words, the fusion handed him the scepter, "Make sure it gets back safely to our times."

The male gem took the scepter from her, giving her a nod, assuring her, "I'll bring it to the headquarters, you know me."

Garnet nodded her head at his words as she went back to Steve, Tony and Peridot, with Iron Man saying to the group, "Suit up."

"What's in New Jersey?" Scott asked another one of his questions.

He didn't got answer, again, as the group in front of him was busy with preparing themselves for their next move in their mission. Tony, Steve, Peridot and Garnet all raised their left hands and added a set of coordinates into their GPSes. The exact day, hour, location and year of the place they were going to visit.

''Cap. Captain. Steve, sorry, America. Rogers." Scott awkwardly called over to Steve, making everyone look at him, "Look, if you do this, and this doesn't work, you're not coming back."

"We know that, Scott." Peridot said, knowing the risk they were taking by visiting another place, "You don't need to tell us about it."

She lifted her eyes to hopefully meet, but her friend didn't look to her. He was focused only on Steve, the two Avengers staring into each other's eyes, with Tony asking him, "Do you trust me?"

Steve looked at him, trying to find that the reasons to find that trust, being aware that if anything went wrong, again, it was over. If this horrifying possibility became real, then they would be lost in time. All of if for a chance. A simple answer left his mouth in answer to Tony's question.

"I do." Was his answer.

"It's your call, captain." Garnet said to Captain America shorty after, placing her hand on Peridot's shoulder for a moment. This gesture telling the short green gem "_We're gonna make it._". Peridot offered her a quick nod of her head in response.

"Good luck." Azurite spoke up to them as they turned towards him for a moment. The male gem offered him the last time for the best of wishes, for their last chance to pull of this team heist. It needed to work. It had to, "All of you."

All of them sent them a quick nods in response before they all faced each other, with Steve saying to them, ''Here we go."

They slapped their left palms. The Quantum Suit overcame their entire bodies as they shrunk down to microscopic size, heading to New Jersey in the year of 1970.

Azurite sighed as they disappeared from his sight, as Scott said to him, rather nervously, "Let's just hope they'll make it back."

"They will make it. I'm sure about it." Azurite assured him as he turned his gaze to Scott. They had to return, otherwise it would not only mean that they failed their mission, but also he'd have a hard time explaining to everyone why Captain America, Iron Man, Garnet and Peridot never returned from their mission.

He and Ant-Man shared a quick look with each other, offering themselves a quick nods before they pressed their Time Travel GPSes. They shrunk down and disappeared from the street, going back to their times.

* * *

New Jersey 1970

Tony, Steve, Garnet and Peridot all had to prepare themselves before entering Camp Lehigh, the birthplace of Captain America to make themselves look less suspicious. There wasn't much problems with Tony and Steve as they only had to change their clothes, unlike Garnet and Peridot who needed more work on their appereance, while it wasn't that hard to make Garnet to look more humanly, all they had to do is to make sure that her third eye was covered which was already done with her visiors, and put gloves on her hands to make her gems unnoticeable. As for Peridot, they had to change the shape of her hair, which she of course hated, and had to figure out how to make her taller, to not raise any suspicions. They didn't had many troubles with her gem, as it was easily covered by her hair.

After entering the camp, their disguises worked quite well. No one stopped them or confronted them for that matter. A warning glance here and there, but nothing to be worried about. The group of four Avengers was quite worried about their shortest member as it was placed in quite visible place but thankfully her hair was covering it, though Peridot was clearly hating every moment of having this hair and couldn't wait to get out of here to get her triangular hair back.

"So..." The short green gem spoke up as the group walked along the sidewalk, looking up at Steve, "This is the place where you born?"

''The idea of me was." Steve explained, earning a nod from Peridot.

Tony looked around, "Right. Well, imagine you're S.H.I.E.L.D, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization. Where do you hide it?"

Rogers' gaze went over at something, "In plain sight."

Everyone turned their attention to E47 bunker, noticing the two men coming inside. This place seemed like a good place to start their search for Pym Particles and the Tesseract in this camp. They headed inside the elevator taking them inside the base as they took a ride with another person, a woman, a S.H.I.E.L.D. secretary who noticed all four of them inside as they took their floors.

The secretary was furrowed her brows as her attention seemed to be focused on Captain America, which all four of them didn't fail to notice. Tony and Peridot took one step forward, making sure to cover the first Avenger, though Tony was doing most of the work because Peridot was obviously much shorter than the Star Spangled Man.

When the elevator stopped, the short green gem stated, "It appears that it's our stop."

"Do we have everything we need?" Tony asked her.

"Yes." Peridot confirmed with a nod of her head as she looked up at Garnet and Steve, "Lieutenant and captain here helped me to get everything."

Tony nodded his head in understanding, exchanging a quick glance with Steve and Garnet, "Good luck on your mission, both of you."

"Good luck on your projects." Garnet said in response as Peridot and Tony stepped out from the elevator, leaving the fusion and Captain America along with the secretary.

''You're new here?" The secretary asked Steve.

"Not exactly." Steve answered, avoiding her gaze.

She then turned his attention towards Garnet, "What about you?"

Garnet's answer was short and quick, "You can say that."

Withing the lowest level of the bunker, Tony and Peridot were quite relieved when they realized that they were the only ones in the entire basement. They ran through the basement, Tony's glasses scanning through everything that came in his sight, trying to find the Infinity Stone heat signatures. The two came across a large safe resting at the end of the room surrounded by piles of paperwork, boxes, and even more safes. In one of those safes, Tony located located the energy source for the Tesseract and led them both to that exact location.

Tony smirked to the gem, picking up a briefcase that laid among the paperwork while Peridot moved one of the chairs towards the safe to make sure she'll reach it and pressed her Arc Reactor. She watched how the nanotech of Iron Gem Mark 1 consumed her entire palm, before firing a stream of fire from her fingertips. The fire easily melted through the locks, giving them the access to the safe and more importantly the Tesseract.

Peridot stared in amazement at the blue glowing cube in front of her as Tony reached his hand into the safe, "Peri, it seems like we're back in the game."

The short green gem grinned at his words, pressing her Arc Reactor, making the piece of her Iron Gem armor disappear from her hand. She watched how Tony carefully pulled the Tesseract out of the safe, and even more carefully set it into his briefcase for safekeeping.

Then, completely out of nowhere a completely new voice emerged from the other side of the basement, "Arnim, you in there? Arnim?"

Peridot and Tony could feel how their eyes shot open as the latter quickly closed the briefcase, and were about to head out, but unfortunely the unknown man heard the noise of the briefcase closing and called out to them, "Hey, both of you! Door's this way.''

Knowing that there really wasn't anything they could do now, Tony and Peridot turned to the unknown man, walking over to him, with Tony saying, "Oh, right."

"We must've messed the directions." Peridot added, trying to sound as believable as she could.

The unknown man approached them, "I'm looking for Dr. Zola. Have you either of you seen him?"

Stark seemed to be nervous more than even, for reasons that were unknown for Peridot. She was nervous too, but for as long as she knew Tony, she never saw him that nervous.

She took her gaze away from Tony's nervous expression as she answered, "Dr. Zola?... I don't think we saw any anyone with this name."

The man simply shrugged his shoulders to her answer, "Do I know you?"

Peridot opened mouth to reply, but closed it a second after. This was when he caught her. She quickly tried to think of a logical response but thankfully Tony came in the rescue for both of them.

"No, sir." He said, shakily, holding out visitors badge, "We're visitors from MIT."

''MIT, huh?" The man said, nodding his head slowly to them both to which Peridot sent him a rather awkward smile, "Got any name?"

"Uh..." Tony paused for a moment, trying to think of a name, "...Howard."

"Well, that'll be easy to remember." The man stated.

"Howard..." Once again, Tony paused for a second, "Potts."

The man then looked down at Peridot, "And you, Miss?"

"I'm Virginia Potts, his wife." Peridot lied, saying the first thing that came into her mind, "But you can call me Pepper."

Tony and Peridot exchanged awkward glances with each other, the latter's expression saying "_Sorry._" , knowing that Pepper probably would have killed them both if she ever found out about this.

The man smiled at the couple before him, as he extended his hand towards Tony, introducing himself, "Well, I'm Howard Stark."

Peridot had to hold back a gasp at the revelation of who this man was. Of course. Now it all made perfect sense to her why Tony became so nervous the moment his eyes caught the sight of this man. She could even see the resembles between these two.

"Hi." Tony said as she awkwardly reached his hand forward, grabbing only one finger from Howard's hand.

"Shake it, don't pull it." Howard laughed, looking down at Tony'a hand holding his finger.

"Yeah." Tony said in response, moving his hand away from Howard's finger who then reached his hand down to Peridot.

Peridot quickly shook Howard's hand, as he stated, "I don't mean to offend you, but you're really short."

"Don't worry. You're not the first one to tell me that." Peridot stated, giving a short chuckle in response. She still wasn't being a fan of being called small, or short but she had to go along with it to not blow their cover.

Howard nodded his head to her response as he looked at Tony, "You look a little green around the gills there, Potts."

''I'm fine. Just, long hours." Tony assured him.

''Wanna get some air?" Howard offered him, but when Tony didn't reply, he added, "Hello, Potts."

"That sounds great." Peridot said, nudging Tony to make him answer, "Right, Howard?"

''Yeah. That would be swell." Tony stated, walking past Howard to the exit, completely forgetting about his briefcase, but thankfully Peridot was there to pick it up and hand it to him.

"Good thing your wife is here." Howard stated, following them, "You're not one of those beatniks, are ya, Potts?"

* * *

The sound of the phone ringing rang across Hank Pym's laboratory. He slowly made his way over to him, with a glass of coffee in his hand picked it up.

"_Hello. Dr. Pym?_" An unknown voice sounded his in ears. He was unaware that he was speaking with Captain America himself.

''That would be the number that you called. Yes." Hank confirmed.

'_'This is Captain Stevens and Lieutenant Demayo from shipping. We have a package for you._" Steve answered.

"Bring it up." Hank told him, sipping his coffee.

''_Well, that's the thing, sir. We can't." _Steve said.

''I'm confused. I thought that was your job." Hank stated.

'_'Well, it's just... Sir, the box is glowing and, to be honest, some of our mail guys aren't feeling that great." _Steve explained.

''They didn't open it, did they?" Hank wanted to know, looking troubled, the tone of his voice changing.

"_Yeah, they did. You better get down here._" Steve answered.

Without a word, Hank quickly slammed the phone and started to run down the hallway in hurry, pushing through other people as Steve and Garnet peeked their heads through the doors of another room to see him running past them.

They quickly came out of the room they were hiding in and went inside Hank's Pym lab, searching through this place to find the Pym Particles. They saw vials of Pym Particles stored inside a fridge as they walked over to it, each of them grabbing a pair out of the compartment.

Their job with acquring the particles was done. Now they had to get out of here as fast as they could. They quietly shut the doors behind them, and walked down the hallway towards the exit, but their eyes caught the sight of the secretary from the elevator coming into the hallway along with two other men.

"And you've never seen these two men and two women before?" One of the security officers asked her.

"No, I've got an eye for this. The two of them looked fishy." She stated.

"Can you describe them?" The other security officer asked.

"Well, one of them had a hippie beard, and another one of them was really short." She explained, referring to Tony and Peridot.

"How short?" Security officer wanted to know.

"Really short." She told him.

At the sight of them, Garnet and Steve quickly lowered their heards, and quickly moved into the nearby room. Good thing they already snuck into Pym's lab and stole Pym Particles for their journey back home. It was actually enough for a few trips each. They didn't need much, but they preferred not to take any risk.

With them safely secured in their hands, all they had to do to was to hope that Tony and Peridot won't get caught in the process of taking the Tesseract.

Garnet waited next to the doors, watching how the S.H.I.E.L.D secretary along with two security officers walked past the office they hid themselves in. She waited for a moment, before saying, "They're gone. It's time to go."

She heard no response from the first Avenger. She turned to him and saw him gazing out of the office's back window. She slowly walked over to him, his eyes not leaving the window. She stopped by his side, gazing at the framed picture in his hand. It showed her a person that was no other than Steve Rogers himself. It was definitely him, but the body did not match the face. It was skinnier, scrawnier, the face of complete exhaustion filling Steve's expression.

She looked just like Captain America she heard of back when the Earth was under WW2. To this day she could remember the reactions of other Crystal Gems when they found the photo showing Steve's transformation. She could still remember Pearl's confusion to why something like that was even possible, and Rose's or rather Pink Diamond's amazement and excitement at how this was man transformed.

Her gaze went away from the picture and looked at the lone person on the opposite side of the glass Steve was staring at. It took her a moment to realize who it was, but she only conviced herself that her suspicions were true when she glanced back at the window of this office and saw a certain name inscripted on it.

She turned back to back, and whispered to him, knowing that they can't stay here, "We can't stay here. We can't let her see us. We can't let her see you."

Steve Rogers knew she was right. He sighed as he lowered his head, turning back from the person on the other side of the glass. He quietly set the framed picture back on the desk, sending that person on the other side of the glass one last look as Garnet approached him, giving him an encouraging nod. The two of them walked out of the office, and headed towards the place where they were planning met up with Tony and Peridot.

When Peggy Carter finally took her attention away from her work, turning back to the glass in front of her that was showing her office. After seeing no one in there, she went back to work.

* * *

They walked out together. Tony, Howard and Peridot, all three of them got out of the banker into the afternoon sun, walking along the Camp Lehigh. They walked between young soldiers and large jeeps and tanks. Tony and Peridot followed Howard Stark, side by side.

"So..." Tony said, spotting flowers in Howard's right hand, "Flowers and sauerkraut. You got a big date tonight?"

''My wife's expecting." Howard responded, looking down at the flowers he prepared for his wife, "And, uh, too much time in the office."

''Congratulations." Tony told him,

''Thanks." Howard thanked him, handing him his flowers, "Hold this, will you?"

"Yeah, sure." Tony said, taking the flowers from him to hold them for a second, as Howard started fixing his tie, "How far along is she?"

''I don't know, she's at the point where she can't stand the sound of my chewing. I guess I'll be eating dinner in the pantry again." Howard answered.

This words made Tony grin for a second, "I have... I mean we have a little girl."

He and Peridot exchanged look with each other again, knowing that they had to go along with it to blow their cover as Howard smiled to that, "A girl would be nice. Less of a chance she'd turn out exactly like me."

"What do you mean?" Peridot asked him.

''Let's just say that the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interests." Howard answered.

''So, where are you at with names?" Tony asked.

"Well, if it's a boy, my wife likes Elmonzo." Howard answered.

"Huh, Might wanna let that stew awwhile. You got time." Tony told him.

"Let me ask you a question." Howard said as he stopped, sharing a quick glance with Peridot and Tony, "When your kid was born were you nervous?"

Tony nodded his head, "Wildly. Yeah."

"The day when we had her was the most nervous day of my life." Peridot added, as she started rubbing her stomach to make herself look more believable.

''Did either of you feel qualified?" Howard asked them, "Like you had any idea how to successfully operate that thing?"

''I literally pieced it together as I went along, I thought about what my Dad did, and..." Tony was interrupted by Howard. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve and Garnet standing in front of one of the jeeps. Captain America and Garnet quickly gave him a quick thumbs up and, both of them saying that they had the particles.

"My old man, he never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt." Howard stated.

''I thought my dad was tough on me." Tony replied, earning a curious expression from Howard. Peridot was hoping that Howard was not going to ask her about her parents, because she never had one. Well, she technically she was made to serve Yellow Diamond, but then she'd have to find a way to put it into more gentler words, "And now, looking back, I just remember the good stuff, you know. He did drop the odd pearl.''

''Yeah? Like what?" Howard asked.

Tony's answer was, "No amount of money ever bought a second of time."

Howard smirked, chuckling, "Smart guy."

''He did his best." Tony stated.

''Let me tell you. That kid's not even here yet, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him or her." Howard said, making Tony smile warmly at his words. Peridot smiled too, giving Tony a small pat on his leg. They looked at Garnet and Steve, both of their expressions asking if they had the Tesseract. Tony raised the briefcase as Peridot pointed at it, showing that they hid it in there.

Howard Stark suprised them both as he approached them, Tony handing him the flowers he asked him to hold a moment ago, "It was nice to meet both of you."

"The feeling is mutual Mr Stark." Peridot said, sending him a quick smile as Howard extended his hand towards her for another handshake. The short green gem shook it, before Howard turned towards Tony, offering him a handshake a well.

"Yeah, Howard. Everything's gonna be all right." Tony said as he gave his father a firm handshake. Howard offered him a grateful smile, before something unexpected, at least for him happened. Tony broke the distance between them, meeting his father in a hug he obviously didn't return, "Thank you for everything. You've done for this country."

When Tony broke off the hug, Howard simply shrugged his shoulders as he turned away, walking over to his butler Jarvis standing by the drivers door. Tony and Peridot walked away, Stark sending his father one last smile that he couldn't see.

Howard handed Jarvis his flowers, turning his glance at Tony and Peridot for the last time, "Jarvis, have we ever met either of them?"

"You meet a lot of people, sir." Jarvis pointed out, as he got himself into the car, sitting on the drivers seat.

"Seems very familiar. Weird beard." Howard stated, as he got himself into the car as well, sitting in the back seat, "And his wife? Have you ever seen a grown person as short as her?"

As Howard and Jarvis drove off, Peridot and Tony quickly made their way over to Steve and Garnet, each of them breathing a sigh of relief. They had everything they needed to go back to their home with the thing they came here for in the first place.

They made their way over to the place where they left Cap's shield. Garnet handed the vials of Pym Particles to Tony and Peridot. All four Avengers slapped Time Travel GPSes at the same time, the Quantum Suits covering their entire bodies. Tony gripped the briefcase as tightly as he could, before all four of them shrank down and disappeared.


	37. Reality

_Asgard _ _2013_

Thor, Rocket and Amethyst sent a quick look towards Loki's cell as they stealthily made their way out of the Asgardian prison. The God of Mischief didn't even saw them. He layed on his bed as his eyes were on the ceiling of his cell. A rather bored expression was on his face as he tossed an object up to the ceiling, simply having nothing else better to do in his cell.

The moment the team consisting of the God of Thunder, a talking raccoon and a gem entered the royal palace of the kingdom of Asgard, the two latter ones were able to see Thor's homeworld for the first time. Starting with beautiful architecture, then going to the dresses and suits the Asgardian women and men wore, or even the armor the guards were clenched in was something worth admiring. 

Amethyst and Rocket, neither of them really focused on how Asgard looked in it's glory, before it was destroyed by Ragnarok to get rid of Hela, because they had a task that they had to focus on. But Amethyst knew a certain gem that would adore this place if she found herself here. She sighed at the thought of her fellow Crystal Gem admiring this place. Pearl would definitely fall in love with this place if she found herself here.

But there was someone on their team that was clearly uncomfortable about being here. That someone was of course Thor Odinson. Too many memories of what happened to his home went through his mind as they snuck through the hals of the royal palace. The memory of his father banishing him, his brother betraying him, his mother dying at the hands of the dark elf, him having to cause Ragnarok to kill his sister, which resulted in the complete destrucion of Asgard, and when the thought that they were finally safe, Thanos attacked them. He still remembered the talk he had with his brother about everything starting to work out for them just moments before Thanos and his goons attacked the refugee ship.

No one in the halls of the royal palace saw them as Rocket made sure that his team would snuck in without anyone spotting their presence. Having Amethyst and Thor with him made it quite harder than usual, but he managed. Amethyst wasn't causing much trouble with sneaking through the palace because she was not much taller than the talking raccoon. There were much troubles with Thor, because despise him being more overweight, him having more overgrown hair and beard, him overally having less goodly appearance than all those years ago, the God of Thunder was still recognizable and they had to watch out with it.

The group stopped by a pillar, gazing towards Jane and an Asgardian woman that led her to her room. Jane thanked the woman for bringing her to her room, before shutting the doors, disappearing from their sight.

Thor waited until the Asgardian that brought Jane to her room walked away before confirming who it was to Rocket and Amethyst, "That's Jane."

''All right. Here's the deal, guys." Rocket said as Amethyst's and Thor's eyes went to the talking raccoon, a small syringe was in his palms, He hopped off the stone railing and held the syringe up towards Thor, "You're gonna charm her, Amethyst is going to hold her down with her whip and I'm gonna poke her with this thing."

"And we're going to borrow the Reality Stone and leave." Amethyst finished for him.

Rocket pointed the syringe at her, "That's right."

Amethyst nodded her head as she summoned her whip, wanting to get this mission done as fast as she could. She knew that no matter time they spent here, one minute would pass in their times, but if it was the opportunity to see Steven, Pearl, Bismuth, and the others again, then it had to work, "Let's do this."

Rocket waved the syringe forward, as Thor breathed in, stating, "I'll be right back, okay?" 

Amethyst and Rocket looked up at him in confusion, with the gem asking, "What? Where are you going?"

The God of Thunder gestured towards the other hallway, taking a few steps towards it, "There's a wine cellar, that's just down there. My father used to fish huge barrel of ale. I'll see if the cellar has a couple of...''

''Hey! Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?" Rocket asked, with Amethyst nodding her head in agreement.

Thor was about to reply but then the sound of someone opening the doors rang through their ears. The entire team quickly crounched down to hide themselves from the sight of whoever just walked into the hallway. They peeked their heads a bit to see who it was. They saw a group of women, walking along the hallway. They waited for a moment until it was safe for them to come out out of their covers.

"Who are they?" Amethyst asked, not excepting to get an answer, but she did as Rocket hopped onto the stone railing.

"My mother..." Thor answered, his expression breaking upon seeing his mother again on _this _day, "...She dies today."

Rocket and Amethyst cringed at that, slowly turning back to Thor. "Oh… that’s today?"

Thor stumbled back, his breathing taking a turn for the worst. He shook his head between breaths, "I can't do this, I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea."

"Come here." Rocket called over to him, gesturing for Thor to come closer to him.

"No, no, no. I think I'm having...I'm having a panic attack." Thor said, slowly coming closer to Rocket, "I shouldn't be here...this is...this is a bad..."

He was cut off by Rocket slapping his palm across his cheek, immediately silencing Thor, "You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone. What about her. She lost people too." He pointed at Amethyst, "Tell him who did you lost five years ago."

Amethyst sighed, trying to recall everyone. Steven, Pearl, Bismuth, Connie, Lapis, Vidalia, most of the Famethysts, actually most of the gems from the human zoo were killed in Thanos' snap, a good portion of Little Homeworld and Beach City residents. She shook her head, answering, "Too many to name..."

"See?" Rocket said, his going attention going back to the God of Thunder, "Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone."

"He's right." Amethyst added, deciding to add her part in Rocket's words to Thor, "I know how much you've lost in these past few years. I'm sorry for what happened to your mom, and I know that coming back here on this day is hard for you, but there are people in our times that can be brought back if we succeed. You can save them."

"It is just like she's saying." Rocket said, as he pointed at Amethyst, his eyes not leaving Thor, "You can help them, you can save them. Is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help usget our families back?"

Thor looked down at the floor, "Okay."

Amethyst titled her head in confusion, as Thor's gaze was not leaving the floor, "Uh, Thor?"

Rocket furrowed his brows, "Are you crying?"

"No..." Thor looked up at them, shaking his head, "...Yes."

''Get it together! You can do this. All right?" Rocket told him.

"C'mon, dude. It just going to be a few minutes and we'll be gone." Amethyst said, putting her hand comfortingly on Thor's, "You can do this."

Thor let out a few deep breaths, "Yes, I can."

''Good." Rocket sent him a quick small smile, hopping off the the stone railing. He walked towards the room where Jane was at this moment, with Amethyst by side.

Thor stayed behind, whispering to himself, "I can do this. I can do it." He took one step forward, but quickly stopped in his tracks, shaking his head, "I can't do this." He turned around and walked off, the talking raccoon and the gem didn't even had a chance to notice him leave them.

" Alright, Heartbreaker. She's alone. This is ..." Rocket said, thinking that Thor was walking behind him and Amethyst.

"Uh, Rocket..." Amethyst cut him off as Rocket glanced over to and turned back to see that Thor wasn't anywhere in their sight, "He's gone."

''Thor? Thor!" Rocket called over for Thor, but didn't got any answer from him. 

"How are we going to get her without him?" Amethyst asked, gesturing towards the syringe Rocket held, "Someone has to distract her while you put this in her."

Rocket quickly came up with an idea, but knew that it was a very bad one, "You kept turning into me when I was staying in Little Homeworld with Nebula to annoy me, this puma thing when were building the time machine, you can change into Thor now."

Amethyst stared at him for a second, before replying, "That's a terrible idea."

"I know." Rocket agreed with her, knowing that his idea was idiotic, "I know, but do you have any other ideas?" 

Amethyst thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No, I actually don't..."

'Then, come on, use your shape shifiting thing to change into him." Rocket told her.

At his words, Amethyst changed into Thor, but didn't look like the one from this year. She turned into Thor from their year. Rocket send her a look, making her ask her, "What?" 

"Change into Thor from this year. Now into Thor from our year! You had a chance to see how he looked like in this year, unlike me!" Rocket pointed out.

"I've only seen him on videos and TV. To be honest I never thought that I'll end up meeting him!" Amethyst stated.

Rocket sighed, "Just try to change into how you remember him from those videos."

Amethyst's answer to this was instant. She changed herself into another Thor, but this time into the one she saw on the videos recorded during Loki's invasion. She wasn't sure if this was exactly how Thor looked like, because it was quite a while since she watched them for obvious reasons. Still she hoped, that she'd look very similiar to Thor from this year.

"What about now?" She asked him.

Rocket eyed her for a moment. Jane was most likely going to ask her why she is purple, but this should work, at least he thought so, "This should work."

Amethyst nodded her head as they slowly made their way over to the entrance of Jane's room. She opened the doors slightly, and both of them saw Jane having a nap on the couch, "So, how are we doing this?"

Rocket pointed the syringe towards the couch, "I will hide behind the bed and once I'll give you the signal you knock on the door and wake her up. After she will walk over to the door, I'll stick this into her and extract the stone."

"Will this work?" Amethyst asked.

Rocket's answer was, "How is your impression of Thor?" 

"It should work for a moment." Amethyst answered.

"Then it should give me enough time." Rocket stated as he quietly snuck into the room. He carefully made his way over to the bed Jane was sleeping on and hid behind it. He tightened his grip around the syringe and gave Amethyst a signal that she can start.

She nodded her head to that, her whip going back into her gem for a moment to make herself look more believable to Jane to give Rocket enough time to put the syringe in Thor's former love. She quietly closed the doors and started knocking on them, intending to wake Jane up. It took her a moment, but she managed to wake Jane from her slumber. Thor's former love slowly rised up from the bed and started making her way over to the doors.

When she was in safe distance away from the bed, Rocket left his hiding place and carefully started to follow her. Jane stopped herself in front of the doors and opened them, revealing Amethyst disguised as Thor.

"Hey, Jane." Amethyst said, as she gave Jane a quick wave, doing her best to mimic Thor's voice.

A smile grew on Jane's face, clearly rejoiced to see Thor, "Thor! You didn't had to knock."

"I know I just want to be sure you weren't sleeping." Amethyst said, knowing that this had no sense but it was the first excuse that came into her mind while Rocket was resisting an urge to facepalm at Amethyst's poorly adaptation of Thor as he slowly made his way over to Jane

Jane opened her mouth to say something but then noticed something she failed to notice at first, "Why are you purple?"

Before Amethyst could answer, Rocket quickly leaped forward and stuck the syringe in a rather questionable part of Jane's body. Jane screamed as Amethyst quickly summoned her whip and wrapped it around her mouth to make sure no more screams escaped her mouth. She changed back into her normal self, her whip still covering Jane's mouth as she watched how the syringe was filling itself with Aether. 

When it was fully filled, Rocket pulled it out of Jane's and tightly secured it in his grip. He showed it off to Amethyst, the red and black substance of the Aether swarming in it, trying to escape. She nodded head and pulled her whip of Jane's mouth. The woman thankfully didn't screamed for help as it must've sent her back to sleep.

Just as Amethyst was about comment that it went well they heard a group of Asgardians running towards this room. They knew who it was by the sound their boots were making. Some of the Asgardian guards must've heard Jane's scream and were heading to this room to check on her. The talking raccoon and gem quickly walked out of the doors and started making their way towards a safe place, but unfortunely for them, they were spotted the guards.

They quickly broke themselves into the run started running away from them, trying to find Thor so they could get out of this place without hopefully getting caught.

* * *

Thor quickly hurried over to one of the pillars and hid behind it as the same group of Asgardian women led by his mother walked past them to avoid getting himself spotted by them. He slowly started to lean his head forward to take peak out of his cover to make sure if they were gone or not. 

''What are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice ask him from behind. He immediately knew who it was. It was his mother. He shrieked so loudly that it made her jump, backing out of his cover.

"You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother." Frigga stated, slowly approaching him.

"Yeah, I was simply just going for a walk, and uh..." Thor told her, trying to hide his belly.

Frigga observed her son from top to bottom, furrowing her brow, she asked, "What are you wearing?"

''I always wear this. This is one of my favorites." Thor exclaimed, brushing his hoodie and shirt and putting his palms into his pockets.

His mother placed her hand on his face and took a good look a thim, "What's wrong with your eye?"

''Oh, my eye." Thor said, moving her hand away from his cheek, "That's... you remember the Battle of Haroquin? When I got hit in the face with a broadsword?"

Frigga smiled, shaking her head, moving her hand along his overgrown hair, "You're not the Thor I know at all, are you?"

Thor gave her a quick smile and nodded his head, "Yes I am."

Frigga's expression broke at that, almost sharing the agony her son must've been through in the future, "The future hasn’t been kind to any of you, has it?"

''I didn't say I'm from the future." Thor pointed out.

"I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than eyes, and you know that." Frigga explained.

Thor attempted to hold back his tears but failed, miserably, he spoke up again, his voice breaking, "I am totally, totally from the future."

Frigga nodded her head, ''Yes, you are." 

''I really need to talk to you." Thor told her, breathing loudly.

''We can talk." Frigga nodded her head again. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around her son, embracing him. Thor didn't know how to react at first, but eventually closed both of his eyes, real and fake one and hugged her back, finally having a chance to hug his mother for the first time in ten years.

His mother was the one to break the hug between them. She led him towards one room at the end of the hallfway. Thor sat down on the bed that was giving a beautiful look at entire Asgard from the windows as Frigga stood in front of him. It was he explained everything to her. His reasoning for being there, for traveling to the past and hopefully trying to undo what the Mad Titan has done.

He was nearing the end of his explanation when he started to tell her about what happened with Thanos three weeks after he snapped, "...His head was over there, right before Azurite's feet... His body over there... What was the point? I was too late. I was just standing there. Some idiot with an axe."

''You're no idiot. You're here aren't you? Seeking counsel from the wisest person in Asgard." His mother told him.

''I guess, yeah..." Thor said, giving her a small nod of his head in response.

"Idiot? No." Frigga leaned her head forward, "A failure? _Absolutely_."

''That's a little bit harsh." Thor stated, looking down at the floor.

Frigga walked over to the bed and sat down next to her son, putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, "You do know what that makes you? Just like everyone else."

''I'm not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?" Thor asked her.

''Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Thor." Frigga stated, rubbing his shoulder, "The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are, "The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are."

Thor nodded his head. He turned his head towards his mom and faced her, "I really missed you, Mum."

Frigga sent him a smile, as she pressed her forehead against his.

_"Thor! We got it!" _They heard Rocket's voice from the hallway.

It was quickly followed by Amethyst's voice,_ "Where are you?"   
_

And another voice came, this voice belonged to one of the Asgardian guards,_ "Get that rabbit and that gem!"_

At the sound of their voices, Thor jumped back on his feet, "Ma, I have to tell you something."

Frigga stood up as well. She grabbed his hands into hers and said, "No, son. You don't. You're here to repair your future, not mine."

"But this is about your future." Thor insisted.

"It's none of my business." Frigga shook her head.

They both quickly turned their heads towards the entrance as Amethyst and Rocket bursted into the room, and quickly ran over to them.

"Oh, you must be his mom." Amethyst said.

Rocket held out the syringe, "We got the thing. Come on, we got to move."

"We managed to lose them for a second, but they can find us at second." Amethyst added.

Thor nodded his head as he turned to his mother, " I wish we had more time."

''No, this was a gift." Frigga said, grabbing his hands into hers again, "And you're going to be the man you're meant to be." 

Thor smiled at his mother, ''I love you, Mom." 

Frigga returned his smile, "I love you." They embraced each other tightly, Thor sharing one last hug with his mother, thanking her for everything. After they released each other, his mom said to him, "And eat a salad."

Thor nodded his head as Amethyst's and Rocket's eyes were already on their Time Travel GPSes, the talking raccoon saying, "Come on. We gotta go."

"No!" Thor said, as he held his out for them to stop, "Wait!"

This sudden cry made everyone stare at him. He jutted out his left arm, eyes closed as he steadied himself.

Rocket was obviously confused, as he asked, "What? What the hell am I lookin’ at?"

"Oh, sometimes it takes a second." Frigga stated, pointing over to the open window.

Rocket and Amethyst turned towards the window Frigga was pointing at.

It was just a second before the hammer flied throug the window and landed in Thor’s hand.

Amethyst's eyes widened at the view of the hammer Thor defended the city of New York from Chitauri all those years ago. 

Thor smiled widely, glancing over at his hammer. Mjolnir had finally returned to it's owner. The hammer he hadn't seen in years after it was destroyed by Hela. What was more important to him is that it flied into his hand. He was still able to wield it, "I'm still worthy."

He turned over to Rocket and Amethyst. The talking raccoon rolled his eyes, "Oh, boy."

Amethyst grinned and gave the God of Thunder a thumbs up, "Good for you, dude."

Her Quantum Suit covered her body. So did Rocket's shorty after. Thor's suit was the last one to cover it's owner body as the God of Thunder turned over to his mother and sent her one last smile.

"Goodbye, mom." He told her.

It was the last thing he said before all three of them disappeared from Frigga's sight.

* * *

**Someone is going to make a comeback in the next chapter. You may already know who that is going to be :)**


	38. Power

Morag 2014

Morag was a planet filled with never ending storms and an uninhabitable environment. A fog covered the planet and filled the landscape, ruins of an ancient civilization barely visible were to the eye because of the dark purple, black, and blues of the horizon.

This planet was the staging point for the two groups of the Avengers to split up. Clint and Natasha would be going to Vormir in the Guardians ship that had been un-shrunked by Pym technology. Nebula, Shi'ra and Rhodes were staying on Morag to wait for Peter Quill who would led them straight to the Orb containing the Power Stone.

The team used the escape pod to get themselves on the ground. Rhodes, Shi'ra, Natasha and Clint were on the ground waiting for Nebula who was putting the navigational coordinates to Vormir.

Shi'ra rolled her eyes as a small creature called Orloni rushed towards her. She quickly kicked it off, the small creature falling several metres away from her. Orloni jumped back on it's feet and roared at the Kratai before running off away from her sight.

"What's wrong?" Rhodey called over to her, "Scared of a mice?"

Shi'ra rolled her eyes at his comment, as Clint called over to them, "Hey, can we hurry it up?"

Natasha clapped her hands twice, "Guys, chop-chop. Come on. We're on a clock."

War Machine and Shi'ra turned over to the duo, "All that, is really helpful."

"It should be done any minute." Shi'ra added.

Natasha smiled as Clint shrugged his shoulders, giving them a look.

As if she had heard what the others just said, Nebula walked out of the ship, informing them, "Everything is ready."

Shi'ra smiled and gestured towards the cyborg, "See? Any minute." 

"Hey." Black Widow said, approaching Shi'ra. With the ship prepared for their journey to Vormir, it was time for her and Clint to go, "Take care of yourself."

Shi'ra smiled at her, "Don't worry about me. I should be the one worrying about you. You're the one that's going to different planet."

Nat smiled back as they shared a quick hug, "Good luck."

The Kratai nodded her head, her smile not leaving her face, as Natasha moved into the Guardians ship, "Likewise."

Clint walked over to Rhodes and gave him a quick pat on his armored shoulder, "Hey. You got this."

Rhodey nodded, "Let's get it done."

"Yes, sir." Clint said back as he moved towards the hatch of the Guardians' ship, walking into the ship with Natasha by his side.

''You guys watch each other's six." Rhodes called over to them.

Clint and Natasha looked back at the group of three Avengers behind them, sending them one last smiles, with Romanoff saying, "See you back."

Barton nodded his head in agreemnt," Yeah."

"Be safe, both of you." Shi'ra told them.

They walked back into the ship as the hatch closed. Shi'ra, Nebula and Rhodey watched how the ship took off via the navigational auto pilot that Nebula had set and sped out of the atmosphere of Morag, heading towards Vormir.

"The coordinates for Vormir are laid in." Nebula declared to Rhodes and Shi'ra the second after the ship disappeared from their view, "All they have to do is not fall out."

"Let's hope it won't happen." Shi'ra stated.

Nebula nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah."

There was a silence for couple of seconds, before Rhodes asked, glancing around his surroundings, "Okay, so, uhh... We just wait around for this Quill guy to show up and then he leads us to the Power Stone, is that it?"

"Yeah." Shi'ra answered, "It won't be too hard to not notice him."

"Let's take cover." Nebula told them as she looked around for a second as she turned away from Shi'ra and Rhodes. Her eyes were set on the temple resting somewhere in the for, "We're not the only ones in 2014 looking for the stones."

Rhodes blinked, "Wait a minute, what are you talking about right now? Who else is looking for these stones?"

Shi'ra glanced over at Rhodey, tensing up a bit at the thought of him that went through her head. They were in 2014, four years before his death so he was still out there, "Rhodey, I think the answer is quite obvious..."

Nebula simply stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing his question, before slowly turning around, "My father, my sister.... and _me._"

"And you?" Rhodes asked, needing to be clarified. He glanced at Shi'ra, then back at Nebula, "Where are you right now?"

* * *

An unfortunate planet by the name of Karidian became a victim of Thanos' path to balance the universe as half of the world's population was being cleansed. This was planet was literally burning. Leviathans, Leviathans Drillers, Chitauri chariots, and starships filled the night air and cried out as they fired bolts at buildings and roads, decimating the Karidians, fleeing away from the Mad Titan's forces for their lives.

Nebula whipped out her Electroshock Batons, screaming as she charged opposing alien. The Karidian warrior who was protecting his home from the invaders had no chance against her, because her moves precise and more importantly deadly. The cyborg swung her Electroshock Batons, driving it right into his shoulder. He didn't had a chance to react to this attack as Nebula finished him off with a strike that broke his neck upon the impact.

She faced another Karidian just a second after. He just like the other one didn't stood a chance against her as she was much faster than him. She drove her batons forward at him, connecting it with his shoulder. The Karidian stumbled back, as Nebula quickly used this occasion to take him out. She moved her one of her batons towards his head and stabbed him right through it, ending his life. The lifeless body of the Karidian fell on it's knees, before collapsing on the ground.

Nebula didn't noticed one thing about this now dead Karidian. That thing was the grenade he lost the moment his lifeless body landed on the ground. The grenade exploded, a shock wave sending Nebula through the air until she collapsed right next to the power generator. Out of the small myst that formed around because of the explosion, came out another Karidian, that cocked his rifle and was about to end her life if it wasn't for someone that came in her rescue that kicked him into the generator. The Karidian screamed in agony as he was getting burned alive from within of the generator.

Her savior turned out to be her sister Gamora. She walked over to her sister, her battle armor soaked in blood of her enemies. 

Nebula glared at her as she sat up, growling, "I didn't ask for your help."

''And yet, you always need it." Gamora retorted. Nebula laughed and smacked her hand away, "Get up. Father wants us back on the ship."

"Why?" Nebula asked her.

"He's found an Infinity Stone." Gamora answered, as her sister looked up at her, her glare fading away from her face.

Thanos' army left the decimated remains of Karidian. The population of this planet submitted to the might of the Great Titan. Nebula and Gamora didn't focused on that. They had seen it before in their past. The two daughter of the Mad Titan focused on the mission they just received. They stared at the hologram Morag, images of the Temple of the Power Stone captured by Ronan's the Accuser scouts days ago.

Nebula stood in front of the hologram, "Where?" 

Gamora walked around the hologram, as she replied, "On a planet called Morag."

''Father's plan is finally in motion." Nebula stated.

Gamora stopped next to her sister, crossing her arms, "One stone isn't six, Nebula." 

Nebula turned her gaze away from the hologram, glaring at her sister, "It's a start. If he gets all of them..."

She was interrupted by a noise that came from behind. The two sisters glanced back in the direction from which the noise came from. Their posture straightened. A beam of the light appeared inside. Out of it, emerged their father, Thanos, the Mad Titan himself. He started tp approach them, covered in the blood of his enemies, the double bladed sword he was wielding in his right hand was practically painted in blood.

"Ronan's located the Power Stone. I'm dispatching you to his ship." He declared to them.

"He won't like that." Gamora stated.

"His alternative is death, then." Thanos stated, wiping blood from his sword, "Ronan's obsession clouds his judgement."

Nebula took a few steps forward and fell on her knees, bowing to her father, "We will not fail you father."

"I know you won't," Thanos said, sending a rather disappointed look to his daughter, as if he expected nothing more than failure to come from her. She did always disappoint him.

Nebula looked up at him, slowly rising back on her feet, whispering, rather painfully upon seeing the look he gave her, "I swear...I will make you proud."

It was just a moment before she screamed and clutched her forehead. She fell on the floor, clutching both sides of her head, trying to contain the pain that came out of nowhere. Gamora quickly came over to her and tried to help her. Thanos just stood and watched, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

The hologram came out of her from eye. A man in the suit armor with a Kratai standing by his side apperead in the view of all three of them. 

_"Okay, so, uhh... We just wait around for this Quill guy to show up and then he leads us to the Power Stone, is that it?"_

Thanos narrowed his eyes, watching everything the hologram had to offer.

_"Yeah. It won't be too hard to not notice him."_

_"_ _Let's take cover. We're not the only ones in 2014 looking for the stones."_

The moment Nebula heard her voice in the hologram, she smacked her head in the area of her eye. She cried out as the hologram cut of. She was shaking. Her sister was right by her side, holding her hand on her arm, comforting her sister.

"Who were they?" She asked her.

"I don't know..." Nebula answered, clutching her head, "My head is splitting...I don't know..."

Titling her head a bit, Gamora realized that her sister was telling her the truth. Nebula was truly confused about everything that happened. But it would be much harder to prove it to their father. She stood up and looked up at him, "Her synaptic drive was probably damaged in battle."

"Shh..." Thanos shushed her. His voice was cold. It was enough for her to understand that she should stay quiet. She could only watch as their father the end of his blade and pressed it against Nebula's throat, the tip of it raising the cyborg's head at him. She was shivering uncontrollably as her eyes met his. 

Gamora just watched it all happen before as her father's gaze was not leaving Nebula. He finally spoke up, "Bring her to my ship."

* * *

The water splashed from the kicks of the legendary outlaw known as Star-Lord. The Sony Walkman hanged from his hip as he skipped forward with the vocals of "Come and Get Your Love" ringing through his ears. Nearby Orloni charged at him, only to get kicked away by a dancing kick from Quill.

Another creature jumped at him from a nearby rock only to get caught by him. Star-Lord held the creature by it's neck as he sang right into it as if it was a microphone. He spun around and continued to sing.

"Come and get your love~!"

He threw the creature aside after that, spinning and singing even more.

"Come and get your love~!"

The others watched him from a short distance, only hearing his voice. They saw his ridiculous dance moves, and slowly turned to one another, especially to Nebula.

"So, he's an idiot." He whispered to her.

"Yeah..." Nebula whispered back.

Shi'ra laughed quietly as she shook her head with a smile. This was the Star-Lord she met all those years ago thanks to Azurite on the day when she lost her hand, "Typical Quill." 

They left their covered and started to make his way towards him, making sure they won't get spotted by him. Quill continued his performance until he was knocked out by Rhodes who smacked him right in the forehead with his armored hand.

"I'm sorry, pal." Shi'ra said as she knelt down beside him and started searching through his bag. She pulled out two devices. One of them was a long pick.

"What is this?" Rhodes asked her.

Nebula answered for her, "The tool of a thief.''

Shi'ra nodded her head in confirmation as Nebula began leading them to their next destination. She led them to a set of massive stone doors, some device was placed on the right in the middle of the doors. She turned around to the Kratai and gave her a nod. Shi'ra walked over to the doors and carefully implanted the long pick. She gave it a turn and let the rest do the work.

The stone doors broke apart, allowing the group of three Avengers to see what was on the other side of the door. There was only one source of light in the entire temple. The Orb hovered in a strange shimmering anomaly. The Power Stone was here.

Nebula took the first step, followed by Shi'ra.

''Whoa, whoa!" Rhodey exclaimed, stopping them both. Shi'ra and Nebula turned towards him, "This is the part where spikes come out with skeletons on the end and everything."

"What are you talking about?" Nebula asked, confused by his statement.

''When you break into a place called the temple of the Power Stone, There's gonna be a bunch of booby traps..." Rhodes tried to explain but Nebula and Shi'ra didn't listened to him blindly entered the temple.

"Rhodey, this isn't one of your Earthy movies." Shi'ra pointed out.

Rhodes just sighed and holding out his hand to them. "Oh, okay, but I warned you."

He eventually followed them as they slowly made their way over to the Orb. The entire group eyed for a moment before Nebula reached her mechanic hand forward, intending to reach into the force shield protecting the Power Stone, but Shi'ra stopped her.

"Don't do it." The Kratai said, holding up the other device she took out from Quill's bag, "This should do the work."

"Are you sure about this?" Rhodes asked her.

"Rhodey." Shi'ra turned to him, "I was a mercenary before coming to Little Homeworld. You'd be surpised how much stuff I had related to stealing in my ship before it was destroyed five years ago."

"If you say so." Rhodes stated.

Shi'ra turned to Nebula and gave her an assuring nod. In response to that, Nebula backed away from the Orb. The Kratai put the device she got from Quill's bag on the floor. The Orb slowly began moving towards it, and it didn't took that long before the Orb attached itself into it.

As she leaned down, intending to grab it, she heard Nebula say to Rhodes, "I wasn't always like this."

"Me neither," War Machine admitted.

"That makes us three." Shi'ra stated, gripping the Orb tightly as she turned to them. She gestured towards her denture of a hand she had lost a few years ago during a contract and she probably wouldn't be here if her Azurite wasn't with her during this contract, "But we work with what we got, right?"

The group stared at each other solemnly as Rhodes said, "Sync up."

They all raised their hands, their Quantum Suits overcoming their bodies. They stared at their Time Travel GPSes, Shi'ra gripping the Orb as if her life had depended on it. 

"On three." Rhodes said through his War Machine mask. He began counting down to one and when he reached that number, he and Shi'ra pressed their GPSes, sending themselves back to their times.

Nebula remained in the Temple of the Power Stone, frozen suddenly as her Synaptics started to malftuction. Her Quantum Suit helmet disappeared from her face as she pressed her hand against her Synaptics, a painful gasp and cry escaping her mouth as she practically collapsed on the floor.

* * *

An invisible force field of energy kept Nebula above the ground, frozen and unable to move as Thanos plugged a neural link coming out from the ceiling to the back of her skull.

"Run diagnostics. Show me her memory file." He ordered.

The Ebony Maw stepped out from the shadows at the end of the room and moved his fingers across the holographic screen before him. He frowned at the news he received, declaring to his father, "Sire, the file appears entangled. It was a memory, but not hers. There's another consciousness sharing her network..._another_ Nebula."

Thanos frowned, turning towards the Maw, "Impossible."

Gamora stood behind her father, unmoving. Thankfully it was nothing too severe for her sister. Their father just wanted to see her memories. The other members of Thanos' Black Order, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian were present in the room as well, watching everything unfold before them.

"This duplicate carries a time stamp..." Ebony Maw continued, his eyes widening, finding more and more about Nebula's memories, "From nine years in the future."

Gamora watched how her father took one step forward, his eyes focused on her and her only, "Where is this other Nebula?"

"In our solar system. On Morag." Ebony Maw answered.

"Can you access her?" Thanos asked him.

The Maw nodded his head, "Yes. The two are linked."

"Search the duplicate's memories for Infinity Stones." Thanos ordered.

The Ebony Maw moved his fingers across the screen as Nebula's memory file was opened, the holographic image shot from her eyes, revealing a group of different people.

"_And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."_

_"_ _Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."_

_"_ _Which means we have to pick our targets."_

_"_ _Correct."_

Thanos watched the video being played in front of him, "Freeze image."

The Maw did as he was told to. He pressed one button on the screen before him and the video shooting from Nebula's eye was frozen. 

Gamora took one step forward towards the image, observing everyone in it, humans being of course the first ones she spotted, "Terrans..." She remarked, her eyes then spotting the gems, "Gems..." And Shi'ra was the last one her eyes caught the sight of, "And one Kratai..."

"Avengers...." Thanos stated, recognizing the team that stopped Loki's invasion two years ago. He frowned upon seeing Tony Stark. The man who single handedly destroyed an entire Chitauri Command Center. Then, his eyes caught the sight of the gems, some of them had star on their clothes, "...And Crystal Gems. " 

He knew that the gems with them were Crystal Gems, becase he was knew about the rebellion that happened all those years ago and knew the symbol of a star the gems who rebelled used to mark themselves, "Unruly wretches."

"These two don't seem like Crystal Gems to me." Corvus Glaive stated, his eyes catching the sight of Jasper and Azurite, spotting that neither of them had anything related to the Crystal Gems. They looked looked like ordinary gems from Homeworld. Especially a certain orange quartz soldier, because the other one looked like a defective gem and these weren't welcomed in Homeworld.

Proxima Midnight titled her head, recognizing one of them as the gem she came across all those years ago on Konoritos. What was he doing with them? He told her himself that they banished him. Homeworld despised every gem that was made defective. They were either banished or shattered.

"What are they doing with them? The Diamonds eliminate every gem that even thinks about rebelling against them." She asked, then added, "And what are they doing on Earth? I thought the Diamonds obliterated every gem on that planet during the rebellion."

"That what they told everyone. They could have been wrong or lying to make everyone fear them." Thanos stated. The Diamonds lying about something wouldn't be a big suprise for him. He glanced over at the Maw, pointing at a certain spot in the image, "What's that reflection? Amplify this, Maw."

The Maw nodded, zooming the image until everyone present in the room were able to see the reflection Thanos spotted, and more importantly who's reflection it was. They saw Nebula. But this Nebula looked a bit different. This Nebula had an orange plating going across her head.

"I don't understand." Gamora said, her eyes not leaving the reflection, "Two Nebulas."

"No. Same Nebula from two different times." Her father stated, turning to the Maw, "Set course for Morag. Scan the duplicate's memories. I want to see _everything_."

Ebony started browsing through more of Nebula's memories. Her memories showed them everything, the Maw found interesting, and knew he had to show his father. It started with her teaming up with Gamora and a few other beings, one of them being the defective gem and a talking woodland beast they saw in her previous memory to destroy a celestial being, or even her trying to sneak into his ship to end his life in his sleep.

They even got an answer relating the gems they saw in Nebula's memories. They found out about Steven Universe as the new embodiment of Pink Diamond who was apparently never shattered, just faked her own death and took the form of Rose Quartz. Her memories told them how he changed Homeworld, and how the same kid responsible for it fell as a victim of something he did in their time.

Nebula screamed as another memory was showed from her eye. It showed them Thanos. The entire left side of his face was burned.

"_You murdered trillions!"_

_"You should be grateful!"_

"**_Grateful!?_**"

_"Konoritos? I saved this planet."_

_"Where are the stones?"_

_"Gone. Reduced to atoms."  
_

"_You're lying!_"

"_That's right!_ _We know that you used them two days ago!_"

"_I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable."_

The image was frozen again, Gamora's eyes stuck with the image of her father, "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing. Yet." Thanos stated, realizing what happened in the future coming into his mind, "They're not trying to stop something I'm going to do in our time. They're trying to undo something I've already done in theirs."

This realization came into Gamora's mind as well, "...The Stones..."

Thanos turned to Gamora, his favourite daughter, "I found them all." He slowly approached her, and started rubbing her cheek, "I won. Tipped the cosmic scales to balance."

In response to his words, Gamora bowed quickly.

"Sire, this is your future." Corvus Glaive stated.

Thanos turned to him, Midnight and Obsidian, "It's my _destiny_."

The Mad Titan turned back to the holographic memories. There was still more to be shown. Ebony turned the video back on and Nebula's voice was the first thing all of them heard.

"_My father is many things. A liar is not one of them."_

_"_ _Ah...Thank you, Daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly..."_

Thanos watched the rest of the memory, seeing how out of the sudden his head was cut off by the son of Odin. Gamora gasped in shock and shot back on her feet.

"And that is destiny fullfilled." He smirked.

"Sire, your daughter..." The Maw said, extending his hand towards Nebula. A neural link was ripped out from the back of her head, and wrapped around her neck. The cyborg gasped for a breath as she was being strangled, "...is a traitor."

Gamora stepped towards the Maw to do something, to intervene but her father held his arm out to her, as everyone in the room heard how the cyborg was gasping for a breath. He slowly approached her, hearing her beg him, "That's not me. It's not. I could never... I would never betray you. Never."

Thanos raised his hand, and ripped the cord away, allowing Nebula to breath again. He grabbed her lower jaw and forced her to look at him, " I know. And you'll have the chance to prove it."

* * *

In the Temple of the Power Stone, Nebula was freed from her frozen stance, but with this came a horrible realization of what just happened. 

"No..." She whispered to herself in horror, "He knows!"

She quickly shot up back on her feet and began to run as fast as she could towards the pod they left behind to contact with the team that went to Vormir. She grabbed the comms and began to call out for them to inform them about what just happened, to warn them that _he _knew about their plan, "Barton? Barton, come in. Romanoff? Come in, we have a problem. Come on!Come in, we have a prob....Thanos knows. Thanos… He knows..."

She got no answer from either of them, she paused when she sheard something rumbling from above. She looked up from the pod to see Sanctuary 2 in the sky, hovering above her as it caught her in a beam, leaving Nebula trapped as she knew that things were about to get a lot worse from that point.

And things did got worse the moment she was brought straight to Sanctuary 2. She was taken out of the pod kicked on the floor by her past self, making her groan in pain, "Ah!"

Past Nebula sighed as she looked at her future self, shaking her head, "You're weak."

Nebula turned to herself, "I'm _you_!"

In response to her words, past Nebula punched her future self straight in the face. She reached down to her Time Travel GPS placed on her future self right hand. She picked it up and started examining it.

Gamora walked in, which future Nebula didn't fail to notice. She panted, looking up at the younger alive version of her sister, "You can stop this. You know you want to. Did you see what happens in the future? Thanos finds the Soul Stone. You wanna know how he does that?You wanna know what he does to you?"

''That's enough." Her past self stated as she kicked her again, pinning her against the wall. She took out her electric knife and moved the blade where the orange plate was located, "You disgust me, but that doesn't mean you're useless."

She pulled the plate out of her head. She stood up and placed the plate on her hand, in the same place as the future self did to make sure she looked just like her.

When she was certain everything she needed for the mission her father assigned her to was ready, she made her way to her father's throne room. She saw him, sitting on his throne. She walked over to him, and bowed before handing him the Pym Particle.

She looked up at him, showing off her new look to him, asking.

"How do I look?"


	39. Soul

Vormir 2014

Natasha and Clint finally arrived at Vormir after a long a journey. They hovered above the planet in the Guardians' ship, seeing it next to a solar eclipse while surrounded by pink clouds as they both looked at the intended location through the windshield after standing up from their seats.

"Wow." Barton said in awe to his best friend, watching over the planet after standing up from his seat, "Under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome."

Natasha could only nod her head in agreement to his statement.

Once they landed on the planet's surface, they walked together on the sands of the planet, passing by dozens of small pools surrouding mountain that had what appeared to be a shrine on the top of it as they walked towards it. If there was a place where they would find the Soul Stone, then it was definitely it. Upon climbing the mountain, they started to get a little tired because of the climbing they had to do get there, as snow poured down from the sky at them.

"I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain." Natasha stated, giving a tired sigh.

Clint turned to her and raised his finger, "Technically, he's not a raccoon, you know."

Nat looked at him, ''Whatever. He eats garbage."

"Welcome..." A voice neither of them have ever heard before spoke up. The pair responded to the new voice by drawing and pointing their weapons in it's direction. The floating figure they spotted paid no attention that and slowly descended to the ground, "...Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith."

"Who are you?" Natasha demanded.

"Consider me a guide." The figure replied, "To all those who seek the Soul Stone."

Black Widow turned her head to the side and nodded, "Oh, good. You tell us where it is and we'll be on our war."

The figure stepped forward. The two Avengers were able to see his face. His entire face was a red skull, "Ah, liebche, If only it were that easy."

He turned around gestured for them to follow him. Althought they were hesitating a bit, Nat and Clint followed him. He stopped on a semicircular engraving, right on the the edge of the mountain. They stopped right next to him and looked down at the massive drop down.

''What you seek lies in front of you... as does what you fear." The figure told them.

"The stone is down there?" Natasha asked.

"For one of you. For the other..." The figure paused for a moment, casting a quick glance at them both, "In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul."

They couldn't stop their faces from going pale at this revelation from him as they shared a quick glance with each other. Clint wished that he and more importantly Natasha went for one of the other stones. Nat could fell how the shiver went through her body.

* * *

_5 years ago_

Thanos and Gamora walked through the path which was purely sand, passing by pools around the base of a mountain. The sun was in full eclipse. The walk up the mountain was surely long, but not that difficult. Paths worn by centuries lead them to the summit.

''The stone had better be up there... for your sister's sake." The Mad Titan warned his daughter.

"Thanos, son of A'lars." They turned around to the source of this voice and spotted a floating figure descending to the ground, "Gamora, daughter of Thanos."

Thanos took one step to the right, standing now right in front of his daughter, as he spoke up to the floating figure they just encounter, "You know us?"

The figure's response was, "It is my curse to know all who journey here."

Thanos took one step forward towards the figure, "Where's the Soul Stone?"

"You should know it extracts a terrible price." The figure explained.

Thanos gave him a nod, "I am prepared."

"We all think that at first." The figure stated, as he touched down the ground. He_ g_lided out of the shadows, revealing his face to them, "We are all _wrong_."

The figure gestured for them to follow him, beginning to walk towards something. Thanos and his daughter followed him, asking, "How is it you know this place so well?"

"A lifetime ago, I, too, sought the stones." The figure began, "I even held one in my hand. But it cast me out, banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess."

They stopped on the edge of the mountain, overlooking a drop, as he continued, "What you seek lies before you. As does what you fear."

"What's this?" Gamora asked.

"The price." He answered, "Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain wisdom."

"Tell me what it needs." Thanos asked him.

"To ensure that whoever possesses it understands its power..." The figure explained, "The stone demands a sacrifice."

Thanos titled his head towards him, "Of what?"

"In order to take the stone you must lose that which you love. A soul... for a soul." The figure reponded.

Gamora could find herself laughing at how ironic this situation was as her father looked over at the drop in front of him. She slowly too a few steps towards him. She looked up at her father, speaking up to him, with a rather bitter smile forming on her face, "All my life, I dreamed of a day... a moment when you would get what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed. But now... you kill and torture... and you call it mercy. The universe has judged _you_. You asked it for a prize, and it told you _no_. You _failed_. And do you wanna know why? Because you love _nothing_. No one."

Thanos turned towards her, tears blinding his vision which she didn't failed to notice, "Really? Tears?"

The figure looked at her, "They're not for _him_."

Gamora looked at the figure, and as her bitter smile faded away from her face, realizing what is about to happen. Her gaze went back to her father, to see him taking steps towards her. She backed away from him, saying, "No. This isn't love."

"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again. Even for you." Thanos declared.

Gamora stared down for a moment, then up at the resolution on his face. She grabbed the red-jeweled dagger, the same dagger he gave her on the day when he cleansed her planet, from his belt with lightning reflexes, triggered the blade and stabbed herself in the stomach... but nothing happened. Her father used the Reality Stone to turn it into bubbles.

Her lips quivered. It broke Thanos' heart, right down the middle. Right in half, "I'm sorry, little one."

He held out his hand towards her, grabbing her by her arm, leading her straight to the drop, his daughter squirmed, trying to free herself from his grasp, yelling, "NO!"

Thanos' expression broke, pain showing on his face. He closed his eyes as he reached the edge. He threw her over the edge. The only thing he could do now was only watch as his little Gamora, his favourite daughter fell to her certain death. She held out her hand, and screamed something, but he didn't heard what was it.

He closed his eyes as the light pulsed overhead as the sacrifice required to acquire the Soul Stone was accomplished.

He didn't know how much time has passed when he found himself lying in one of the shallow pools back at the base of the mountain. He slowly sat up and opened his hand to see the Soul Stone there.

* * *

Clint and Natasha were silent. Romanoff sat on the ground, and held her head in her palms, her jaw clenched. Barton was silent, walking back and forth. He looked over at the figure, who was silent and looking at them for the entire time, almost as if he was looking through their souls. Clint could feel the anxiety building inside of him when he thought about it.

"How's it going?" He spoke up the figure as he waved his hand at him, chuckling sarcastically. He turned his gaze away from him and looked down at Nat, "Jesus...Maybe he's making this shit up."

"No." Natasha said, her eyes not leaving the ground, "I don't think so."

"Why, 'cause he knows your Daddy's name?" Clint asked her.

Natasha looked up at him, recalling what Nebula told them about her sister, "I didn't. Thanos left here with the stone without his daughter. It's not a coincidence."

Clint sighed, "...Yeah."

Natasha said nothing. She just started thinking about everything, her world, and everyone that lost their life five years ago in Thanos' snap and they tried their best to stop him, and they were unable to do anything to stop him, and finally recalled a certain words Captain America told everyone before they started this whole time heist, "Whatever it takes..."

"Whatever it takes." Clint said shorty after, glancing over at the edge of the moutain.

Romanoff stood up and turned to him, " If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead."

"Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be." Clint stated.

Natasha nodded her head, "I guess we do."

Clint grabbed her hand and she reciprocatedand they looked at each other, "I'm starting to think, we mean different people here, Natasha."

"For the last five years I've been trying to do one thing. Get to right here." Natasha's voice was shaking, "That's all it's been about. Bringing everybody back."

"Oh, don't you get all decent on me now." Clint told her, shaking his head.

"What, you think I wanna do it?..." Natasha paused for a moment, "...I'm trying to save your life, you idiot."

Clint gave her a very small, bittersweet smile. It was barely noticable, "Yeah, well, I don't want you to, because I– Natasha, you know what I've done. You know what I've become."

"I don't judge people on their worst mistakes." Natasha exclaimed.

"Maybe you should." Clint stated.

Natasha gave him a sad smile which faded just a second later, "You didn't."

Clint's breathing was slowly getting out of control after hearing her say it, his voice was so shaky when he replied, "You're a pain in my ass, you know that?"

Romanoff remained silent, just gave him a teary nod in response. They slowly leaned forward themselves and pressed their foreheads against one other.

"Okay. You win." Clint smiled at her. Natasha nodded her head at him, but then something unexcepted for her happened. He knocked her to the ground, "Tell my family I love them."

She quickly returned the favor. She reversed and flipped Clint onto the ground, "You tell them yourself."

Natasha fired a small chip from a device on her wrist at Clint's chest and electrocuted him, making him stay on the ground. She started to run towards the cliff as Clint grabbed the chip and ripped it off his chest. He quickly got up and fired an explosive arrow, knocking her down upon the impact of the explosion. She grabbed her stomach and grunted in pain before looking up at Clint, who threw his bow on the ground. He looked straight at her and started to run towards the cliff, turning away from her the moment he jumped off the cliff.

Black Widow jumped right after him and wrapped her arms around his back. She fired a grappling hook on the rocky wall and hooked him into it as they crashed into the wall.

"Damn you!" Clint shouted, holding her by her wrist, preventing her from falling down to her certain death.

Her response was a smile. One last smile, "Let me go."

"No." Clint practically begged her to not let go, "Please, no..."

Natasha's final smile didn't left her face as she reassured him, "It's _okay_."

She kicked the wall, freeing herself from his grasp. Clint could only watch how his closest friend fell to her certain death. "NO!"

His lips quivered as he quickly looked away, not wanting the moment when she hit the ground, meeting her demise. He turned back in her direction and saw his lifeless body, laying on the ground in a pool of blood surrounding her body, her lifeless eyes staring right at him.

He didn't even paid attention to what was going on above him. The Shrine sent an energy into the cloud, releasing it and spreading a ripple until everythin was consumed by a bright flash.

Clint didn't know how much time has passed when he woke up from his slumber and found himself laying in a pool of water. He slowly got himself and opened his left palm, revealing a shiny Infinity Stone.

After taking a good look at it, he began to sob and punched the water, remembering the price that was paid to acquire the Soul Stone, remembering the sacrifice of Natasha Romanoff, his fellow Avenger and closest friend.

* * *

The Quantum Tunnel sparked and spun to back life with all various of lights and colors. The ceiling above moved in response to the awakening of the Quantum Tunnel. It didn't got much rest as, it was only one minute before it was went to life once more.

Then, the time travelers came home. At first, none of them noticed that one of them was missing.

Amethyst breathed in as she was the first one to speak up, "Guys, that was the longest minute of my life."

"Did we get them all?" Banner asked shorty after.

Azurite looked around and could feel relief overcoming his body as he planted the scepter on the platform. The hard part was done, now they had to make their own gauntlet and snap their fingers to bring everyone back, "It appears so."

Rhodes smiled, "You telling me this'll actually work?"

"...Someone is missing." Garnet spoke up as everyone looked towards the fusion who gestured towards Clint,

Banner looked at Barton, so did everyone else, "Clint, where's Nat?"

Clint remained silent as he fell on his knees. He slowly looked up at them, revealing his glassy eyes to them. Tear slid down his cheeks as he locked eyes with every Avenger.

That was only answer they needed to get to understand what happened to Black Widow.

Bruce fell on his knees and pounded the platform in grief as everyone else lowered their heads, mourning the loss of their fellow Avenger.

* * *

**We're done with the time heist!**

**RIP Natasha Romanoff. Your sacrifice won't be forgotten!**


	40. Last Suit Up

The news of Natasha's Romanoff sacrifice was taken rather badly by everyone, especially by the people she stopped Loki's invasion all those years ago with. Steve, Thor, Tony, Bruce and Clint all left the Avengers headquarters and found themselves outside, on the dock by the lakeside not too far from the headquarters, where they grieved the loss of their teammate.

The group of five Avengers was faced with a silence, neither of them even knew what to say to each other, some of them were still trying to accept that Natasha Romanoff was gone. Thankfully it was broken by Tony, after a few moments, "Do we know if she had family?"

"Yeah_._"Steve replied, "_Us._"

Thor glanced in his direction, confused, not having a chance to hear Tony's question, "What?"

"I just asked him a question..." Tony explanation was cut off by the God of Thunder.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" He glanced around himself to take a good look at each one of them, "So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

Clint looked up at him, speaking up for the first time since they returned to their times, "We can't get her back."

Thor turned to him, "Wha...what?"

"It can't be undone. It can't." Clint declared, shaking his head.

Thor gave him a rather dry laugh in response, "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?"

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?" Clint asked him.

"No, that's my point..." Thor was cut off by Clint.

Hawkeye shook his head, " It can't be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." He raised his voice, starting to shout, "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? **GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!**"

Thor just stood there, so did everyone else, listening to Clint's burst of anger, as his anger was quickly replaced by grief. His voice toned down, "It was supposed to be _me_. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

In a burst of anger, Bruce grabbed a bench and hurled it clear across the lake. His anger vanished, he turned to the others with a resigned look on his face, "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve rised up from the ground, a determined look was on his face, "We will."

* * *

Azurite walked through the hallways of the Avengers headquarters looking for a certain Kratai huntresses. Tony, Bruce, Peridot and Rocket were currently working on constructing the new gauntlet that they were going to use bring everyone back. They were actually close to finishing it and send him, Amethyst and Garnet to get the others and bring them into the lab.

It's been actually a few minutes since he left the lab to find Shi'ra and so far, he couldn't find her anywhere, but then he heard someone firing a handgun in the shooting range. He made his way into the shooting range and saw Shi'ra firing the handgun at the wooden target in front of her. She most likely didn't heard him come inside as her ears were covered by a pair of safety headphones. During these five years when the Avengers needed their help with something and they had to stay in the headquarters with them, Natasha was often taking them to the shooting range.

The male gem approached her and gave her a pat on her shoulder, showing her that someone was in this room with her, "Hey."

The Kratai looked over at him, and removed her safety headphones, "Oh, hey."

"What are you doing?" He raised his brow.

Shi'ra gestured towards the handgun in her palm, before turning to the table behind her, intending to set it on it, "I came here to you know shot a bit?"

Azurite crossed his arms, "Shi'ra. I've known you for too long to know when there's something bugging your mind."

Shi'ra set the handgun on the table, turning towards him, "I just have been thinking about Nat and about what happened on Vormir."

Azurite sighed, letting out an "Oh" in response, before asking her, "What is this that's bugging you? You know you can tell me everything."

"It's just, do you think we could have avoided it if we figured it out earlier?" Shi'ra asked him as Azurite titled his head, "That we if figured out what really happened to Gamora when Thanos went with her to get the Soul Stone we could have find another way to acquire it, without having to lost one of us?"

Azurite bit his lips. Now that he thought about it, they could have figured out what happened five years ago on Vormir between Gamora and Thanos and why she never returned with him.

He shook his head, saying, "I don't think there was other way to acquire it."

"How do you know that there was no other way?" Shi'ra asked him, "Maybe if we..."

"Shi'ra." Azurite cut her off, walking closer to her, "I know you care about what happened to Nat. I do too. She was my friend too, and I wish that she came back with Clint, but I don't think there was other way to get the Soul Stone. Even he knew that when he got the Soul Stone five years, and if what Jasper and Peridot told us, he had three Infinity Stones when it happened."

Shi'ra sighed, if even Thanos wasn't able to find a way how to acquire the Soul Stone other than killing Gamora for it, then it maybe really was the only way how to get that stone, but she really wished that there was other way they could acquire, maybe if there really was other way, then maybe Natasha and Gamora would be still alive, "Maybe you're right."

"Maybe I am, or not, but you can't bit yourself over something you had no control of. What happened to Natasha, already happened, and it can't be undone. I wished it was as much as you do, but it can't." Azurite said as he put his hands on her shoulders, making her look straight into his eyes, "You can't bit yourself over this."

The Kratai nodded her head at his words, "Thank you, for this."

"At least this time I'm the one to cheer you up about something." Azurite stated, giving her a small smile, "You were always there for me, no matter how much of a wreck I could be at the moment. You never cared if it was either after Thanos cleansed Konoritos, or after he snapped his fingers, you were always there for me, willing to do everything you can to help me. It's the least I can do for you."

"Azurite, I was there for you whenever you needed someone, because that's what sisters are for." Shi'ra gave him a little smile in response, and paused for a second, "I feel like I owned it to you."

"What do you mean?" Azurite raised his brow, as he removed his hands from her shoulders.

Shi'ra let out a breath before replying, placing her hand on his shoulder, "You gave me friendship and showed how it is when not everyone thinks of you as a freak. Who would have know where would I be if I never came across you in that bar after I almost killed that guy for calling me a freak. I feel like the moment when you approached me to have a talk with me was a turning point of my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"It was nothing, Shi'ra." Azurite stated, "After I heard you shout that you didn't ask to be born different and treated like a scum because of it, I felt like I needed to to talk with you and show you that not everyone things about you like that. It was something like Darnel and Freddy did to me after I met them in the forest after landing on their planet and I felt like I needed to return the favor by doing the same to someone else."

The Kratai shook her head, "It wasn't nothing to me. I used to have nothing, but now I got this. I have place I can call home, I have friends that care that about me, I have family that cares about me, and this family isn't like my old one. It isn't like my father, or my mother, or my older brother who gave up on me the moment I was born because of being smaller than other females of my people. This is why I'm forever grateful to you for approaching me in that bar, I probably wouldn't have all of it if you didn't."

She walked up to him and embraced him tightly, "I have a place I can call home, I have family, this is all I ever wanted in my entire life."

It took him a moment but he embraced her as well. Azurite's mind was trying to process what she just said him. In all the years they knew each other, she never opened up about how much the moment when he approached her in that bar all those years ago meant to her. How much all of it, her home in Little Homeworld, the friends she made, or even the new family she mentioned that isn't like the old one meant to her.

He finally brought himself to say something to her, "That's what brothers are for, right?" 

Shi'ra chuckled, smilling, "I love you, brother." 

"I love you too, sister." Azurite smiled back, patting her on her back.

The two of them just stood there, enjoying the hug. They didn't care about the massive age difference between them. They didn't care that they were different spieces. They were brother and sister, and nothing would change that.

They released each other from the hug as Shi'ra gestured towards the exit from the shooting range, "I think we should check the progress they're making on the gauntlet."

Azurite nodded his head, as they walked out of the shooting range and began walking towards the lab, "They're actually really close to finishing it."

"I can't wait to see all of them again." Shi'ra smiled to herself. 

"Me too." Azurite nodded his head in agreement as he opened his device. Then, he showed her a certain photo he took, "I can't wait to show this to Spinel, Orange, Drax, and the rest. I can already imagine them laughing at it."

Shi'ra shook her head, "I still can't believe you took a photo of me and Scott when we came back as a babies."

Azurite just shrugged his shoulders in response, "Well, I already said to you why I took it."

The Kratai pointed her index finger at her brother, "And I already said that I understand your point why you did it."

Azurite just gave her a smile, which she returned as they made their way to lab where everyone, except for Nebula was already waiting for Tony, Banner, Peridot, and Rocket to finish the gauntlet. They were so close to finishing it the Azurite and Shi'ra stepped into the lab.

Tony carefully placed the stones in the Nano Gauntlet while Bruce, Peridot and Rocket watched. With nervous precision, Tony manipulated the machine and carefully placed all six stones into the Nano's Gauntlet hand, in the exact same places as they were first time around. Each one of the Infinity Stones glowed brightly, as all four of them backed away for a bit, just in case if they were any side effects.

"Boom!" The talking raccoon suddenly shouted, making the other three jump back a little. He smirked, at their unamused expressions, but it quickly faded from his mouth as Jasper approached him and punched him, lightly, but it still hurt him, a lot, making him grunt in pain.

"Thank you, Jasper." Peridot thanked the orange gem.

"Anytime." Jasper nodded her head, approaching Azurite and Shi'ra, "You're just in time. They just placed the stones on the gauntlet." 

Azurite and Shi'ra gave a nod of their heads in response to their roommate voice as the claws Tony used to place the stones into the Nano Gauntlet, lifted it up from the containment and rested it on a small stand against the table.

Peridot gave the glove one last look, just to make sure everyhing was alright. She nodded, declaring, "Looks like the glove’s ready."

Rocket looked up, his eyes meeting each one of the Avengers in the room. He sighed, as he turned his attention towards the Nano Gauntlet, "Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

In an instant, Thor raised his hand in response, "I'll do it."

Everyone turned to the God of Thunder who already began approaching the Nano Gauntlet as if it was decided already who was going to snap his fingers to bring everyone back. 

Scott was the first one to voice his thought about Thor's decision, "Excuse me?"

Azurite quickly followed, "What?"

Thor nodded his head with a smile on his face, not understanding what Ant-Man and Azurite meant by that, "It's okay."

Steve and Jasper quickly moved over to stop Thor somewhere in the midway of the distance between him and the Nano Gauntlet, with Captain America placing his hand on his chest, "Wait, wait, Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

Thor stopped walking and lowered his head, "I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"Let's discuss about who should be the one to snap it." Garnet stated.

"She's right, Thor. We can't just get to it immediately." Shi'ra agreed with the fusion.

"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back." Thor pointed out, pointing towards the Nano Gauntlet with his right hand, "I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

The others were not even close to being convinced. He may have looked different, but everyone could clearly recall what a mess Thor was when he first stepped inside the headquarters after Banner, Rocket and Azurite conviced him to help them in their mission. Some of them already knew why he wanted to do this. He wanted to sacrifice himself to make up for his failure.

"It doesn't matter, dude. You maybe the strongest around here, but we don't know what this will do to you." Amethyst tried to convice him to back away from the gauntlet.

"It's not that– Stop it! Just let me!" Thor hushed everyone up, starting to tear up, "Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right."

"How? By getting yourself killed?" Jasper asked him. Thor simply shrugged his shoulders to her question.

"Look." Tony began, "It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition.

Thor placed his hands on Stark's shoulders, asking, "What do you... What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?"

"Cheez whiz?/The best Asgardian liquor?" Peridot and Rhodes said at the same time, titling their heads towards him, not even caring that they said something at the same time.

Thor paused for a moment, pointing his right hand at them for a second, before turning his attention back to Stark, "_Lightning._"

Tony sighed, "...Yeah."

"Lightning won't help you." Banner spoke up, slowly approaching the Nano Gauntlet. Everyone in the room turned towards him. A rather anxious expression overcoming his face, "It's gotta be me."

Everyone simply stared at him, each one of them having different reactions to his declaration as he approached the table, his eyes gazing at the Nano Gauntlet. His voice sounded to be completely hopeless as he spoke up again, " You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."

Steve raised his brow, concerned for him, asking, "How do we know you will?"

Banner shook his head, his eyes not leaving the gauntlet, responding, sadly, "We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like.._._I was made for this."

No one stepped forward upon hearing his words. Not even Thor who was just arguing with everyone that he should be the one to snap his fingers to bring half of the universe back to life. He just stepped back.

Tony watched how Banner picked up the gauntlet, asking him, "Good to go, yeah?"

Bruce stared at the Nano Gauntlet in his his hands, taking his gaze away from it for a second to look at Stark, offering a nod of his head to him, "Let's do it."

"You remember." Tony began, feeling how his heartbeat speed up his heart rate, "_Everyone _Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years."

Banner nodded his head again, "Got it."

Steve took a few steps backwards, standing right behind Bruce, holding him shield tightly. Scott Lang who stood on his left raised his hand and pressed the button on his finger, the Ant-Man mask covering his face. James Rhodes followed him, the War Machine’s mask covering his face as well, his eyes shining red.

Peridot activated her Iron Gem armor with with a single press against her Arc Reactor. The armor overcame her entire body, her mask's golden eyes shined brightly. The short green gem held out both of her hands forward. Two energy shields appeared right in front of Jasper and Shi'ra who used it to shield themselves from whichever was going to happen in the next few moments.

Garnet and Amethyst, the two Crystal Gems stood by each other sides, the latter using Garnet as some sort of defensive shield, which the fusion didn't minded at all. Rocket stood on the table, right behind Thor. The talking raccoon put his goggles to protect his eyesight while the Asgardian put a protective hand on his chest.

Tony pressed his Arc Reactor. In just a matter of seconds, his entire armor overcoming his whole body, ending in the moment when his mask shut itself over his face. Just like Peridot, he held both of his hands forward and the energy shields that formed in front of him were gladly used by Clint Barton and Azurite as defensive shields. Clint stood on the left, while Azurite stood on the right.

Bruce glanced over at Tony when everyone was in position, waiting for the confirmation. He couldn't read Stark's expression because of his mask but got his answer when Tony called out to his AI, "Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?"

Friday's answer was quick, "_Yes, boss."_

The whole room began to go into a full lockdown. Steel shutters slid down every window, every doorway, every entrance and exit, and even covered the roof, completely shutting this room from the outside world.

"Everybody comes home." Banner stated, determined, beginning to put his hand into the Nano Gauntlet which began expanding itself so it could match his hands' height. 

With each passing second, more and more of his hand was being placed in the Nano Gauntlet until it finally clenched itself around his hand. All of the Infinity Stones glowed and energy flows bursted through the entire gauntlet. Those flows eventually reached Banner's arm and shoulder. He cringed in pain as the power all Infinity Stones, the power of the universe itself brought him to his knee.

He groaned, his groans quickly turning into growls as he slowly began to raise his hand. Each one of the Avengers could only watch in horror how the energy was starting to burn his jumpsuit. Not only that, just a moment later, they saw that it was much worse. The bursts of energy began consuming his entire hand, practically burning his skin.

Thor couldn't take more of his agonizing growls of pain. He waved his hand to the left, screaming to him, "Take it off! Take it off!"

Steve extended his hands towards him, shouting, "No, wait. Bruce, are you okay?"

Peridot was cringing underneath her Iron Gem armor at Bruce's painful growls, as she asked him, knowing that it was a pretty stupid question, "Are you alright?"

"Talk to us, Bruce." Garnet told him, her normally stoic expression showing concern for him.

Somehow, Bruce managed to find strenght inside of him to nod his head and reply, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

None of them had a clue what Nebula currently doing while they locked themselves away from the world just in case if something had happened. The cyborg was working on the Quantum Tunnel, pressing and pushing some buttons, intending to activate it. She typed the coordinates for the date from which she came from to these times and watched how the screen in front of her displayed that the gateway for year 2014 was opened. She glanced over at the platform as the mechanism began to move. 

She looked up at the platform and just waited for something to happen, thinking if she managed to turn this machine on or not.

She quickly got her answer when Sanctuary 2 bursted out of the Quantum Tunnel and bursted right through the roof of the Avengers headquarters, making a huge hole in it. 

Using all the strength he had, Bruce tightly clutched the gauntlet with his other hand, practically forcing every nerve in his body to corporate with him at this moment. They were so close to actually reversing Thanos' snap. He had to do it. Everyone counted on him. He will do it, even if it would be the last thing he'll ever do. He screamed at the top of his lungs, some of the people inside of the lab flinched a bit his scream of agony as he lifted his arm.

His screams only became louder through every second of raising his hand until it was above his head. It took everything in him, every last piece of strength that was left in him to press his middle finger and thumb against each other. 

SNAP!

He let out one last, agonizing scream as he snapped his fingers. A bright light covered the entire area, blinding everyone for a moment. When it cooled down, everyone were able to see Bruce again. They saw him collaps on the ground, the Nano Gauntlet falling off his arm.

"Bruce!" Steve shouted as he was the first one to fell on his knee to check Bruce's state.

Amethyst fell on her knee and started talking to him, to keep him conscious, "Hey, big dude. You did it."

"We need to patch his arm." Garnet stated as Clint kicked the Nano Gauntlet away from them. Tony's and Peridot's answer was instant. They held their hands above Bruce's arm, releasing a spray into his arm to heal the burn on Banner's hand.

"Did it work?" Bruce groaned as he grabbed Steve's hand.

''Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay." Thor told him.

"We'll see." Peridot said, her mask disappeared from her face, revealing a comforting smile she sent to Banner, "But for now, just rest."

The steel doors were opened as the lockdown shut down. The entire headquarters began to open itself for the world after a few moments of complete lockdown. Scott turned his attention to a nearby garden when a certain noise rang through his ears.

He wasn't the only one. Clint's attention was focused on his cellphone. It layed on the table. He quickly went over to the table and stared at the screen as if he was staring at a treasure. His wife was the one calling him. He picked it up and answering the call, putting it right next to his ear.

It took him a few seconds to say something the person calling him, "...Laura?"

He quickly got the response from the other side.

"_Clint?_"

He gasped, feeling how tears were forming in his eyes. He wanted to say something, he tried to bring himself to do it, but he couldn't. A weak stutter was the only thing he could say in response to her, having no idea what he should say to her after these five long torturous years.

Azurite quickly opened his device and started calling Little Homeworld to ask Centi and Biggs if something had happened. To see if it worked. To see if they brought all of their friends back to life.

Scott slowly walked over to the glass window that was showing him the garden. He stared at the chirping birds landing on the tree branches.

"Guys..." A smile formed on his lips, "I think it worked!"

Bruce opened his eyes and looked up at the shadow that completely covered the sun and fell over the Avengers headquarters. Everyone followed his example. Azurite's confused expression turned into a horrified one upon seeing the massive warship in the sky.

It was the last thing they spotted before Sanctuary 2 fired a few missiles heading towards their base...

* * *

**Here we go, story just went into it's final phase. Only 5 more chapters left to go!**


	41. Ungrateful Universe

None of them had time to react when Thanos' warship unleashed missiles towards their base. One of the missiles hit the garden Scott was staring at just a second ago and the explosion would have surely killed Ant-Man if he didn't shrunk into microscopic size in the last second. Fortunely for him he was just knocked away by the impact of the explosion.

More and more missiles were unleashed at the Avengers headquarters, destroying the entirety of it's structure as the humans, gems, and aliens inside of it were taken by suprise by this sudden attack. The floor slided of as Rocket, Rhodes, Shi'ra, Banner, Jasper and Peridot hanged into it, but it was just a matter of time before they slided down inside of the rubble along with Clint and Amethyst as they fell through another hole that was made in the floor right into the depths of whatever was left of the Avenger headquarters.

When one last missile was sent at the headquarters, it caused a large explosion that damaged the water mains of the building.

Rocket, Rhodes, Shi'ra and Peridot were trapped underground while Jasper and Banner were doing their best to keep everything from falling on top of them.

Some debris stuck on Rocket' chest as the talking raccon struggled to take it off, having trouble breathing, "I can't breathe. I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

"Canopy. Canopy. Canopy!" Rhodey called out as he got out of his damaged War Machine suit.

Panicked breaths were leaving Peridot's mouth as she pressed her Arc Reactor and her Iron Gem armor disappeared from her body, the pieces of her broken visiors falling off her eyes to the ground. She glanced around herself and saw Shi'ra struggling to take a few metal pillars off her chest, gasping for a breath. The short green gem jumped back on her feet and made her way over to Shi'ra. She extended both of her hands and lifted the pillars off Shi'ra's chest.

The Kratai breathed in a deep breath, finally being able to breath again as she sent her a grateful nod, "Thanks."

Peridot just gave her a quick nod of her head in response, whispering to herself, in panic, "This is bad, this is bad..."

"Guys! Get outta here!" Banner shouted, keeping everything from falling on top of them with his good one hand.

"We don't know for how long we will be able to keep it up!" Jasper added, knowing it just matter of time before everything would fall on them.

Rocket turned his gaze towards Rhodes to see him picking up a pipe, with intention of freeing him from his prison, "Hurry up! Hurry up! Come on!"

Rhodes groaned as he used the pipe to lift the debris to take it off Rocket's chest, the raccoon telling him to hurry. Once Rocket was able to leave his prison, he instantly escaped from it. Rhodes panted tiredly, dropping the debris on the ground, as Shi'ra and Peridot approached him and Rocket.

Banner grunted, "Guys!"

"We can't hold it!" Jasper added.

Shi'ra, Rocket, Peridot and Rhodes turned towards them and all they could do was watch in horror as water started pouring into the area they were stuck in, completely engulfing them.

There was one thing that Scott Lang was aware of at this moment. That was extremely lucky to survive the blast when he shrunk down just second before the missiles struck the headquarters.

He pushed himself out of the rubble when he heard James Rhodes voice in his comms, "_Mayday, mayday! Does anybody copy? We're in the lower level, it's flooding!_"

Scott lifted his hand up and touched his comms, "What?"

"_We're drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!_" Rhodes called out again, apparently not hearing Lang's voice.

Scott looked around himself as he called out to Rhodes again, but once again got no answer, "Wait! I'm here! I'm here, can you hear me?"

Clint grunted in pain he wiped the rubble off his chest. He pushed himself back on his feet before hearing someone let out a painful grunt on his left. He glanced over in the grunts direction and saw Amethyst, the purple gem wiping off some rubble off her body. He slowly approached her and reached his hand to her, "C'mon, get up."

Amethyst accepted his hand and rised up back on her feet, "Thanks." Clint nodded his head at her, as she asked him, "Do you know where we are?"

"In the sewers." Clint's answer came quickly as pulled out a flashlight and lighted it upwards to see what happened. The entire headquarters were completely destroyed by this sudden attack, and he had no idea how he and this gem with him were going to get out of here, "Cap?!"

Amethyst heard him call over for Cap a few more times, still getting no answer from anyone, "They won't hear us here, dude. We need to find other way out."

Clint sighed, shifting his attention towards her, "You're right."

"Let's go." Amethyst said, summoning her whip as Clint took out his bow. The latter led them through the sewers, using his flashlight to light up the path ahead of them while also having his bow in ready just in case in something was going to attack him and Amethyst. The gem held her whip in ready as well.

It was when their eyes caught a sight of something laying among the rubble. Clint looked at her and gestured towards it, to which she nodded her head in understanding. She moved the rubble aside from the thing and the Nano Gauntlet was revealed to be laying right in front of them. Amethyst picked it up and let out a small sigh of relief, at least they wouldn't have to worry about the whereabouts of the Nano Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones.

Her relief was short lived when she and Clint heard some rambling from the tunnel behind them. It was easy for them to guess that they were not alone here. Amethyst clutched the gauntlet as Clint loaded an arrow onto his bow. He shoot an arrow towards the dark tunnel, ligtening it up and revealing hordes of Outriders heading their way.

Amethyst stared in horror at the approaching Outriders, instantly recognizing these creatures as the same ones she fought off in Wakanda five years ago before Thanos snapped, "Oh no, not these guys again!"

They quickly broke themselves into the run and started to move away from the Outriders as fast as they could. Amethyst's tightened her grip around the Nano Gauntlet, while also trying not to drop her whip on the ground.

Sanctury 2 hovered above the remains of the Avengers headquarters as it released a single beam of light out of which stepped the Mad Titan himself, wearing his entire armor and wielding his double bladed in his right hand.

The first thing he spotted after stepping out of the beam of light was his daughter approaching him, "Daughter."

"Yes, father?" Nebula asked, approaching her father.

"So this is the future?" Thanos asked, looking around his surroundings. He looked down at his daughter and said, "Well done."

"Thank you, father." Nebula said as she took the orange plate off her face and threw it aside, "They suspected nothing."

Thanos planted his sword into the ground and took off his helmet before placing it on top of the sword's edge, "The arrogant never do." He sat down on the rock and looked up at his daughter, "Go. Find the stones. Bring them to me."

"What will you do?" Nebula asked him.

Thanos leaned in a bit, "Wait."

Nebula nodded her head and proceeded to walk off to find the stones hid somewhere in the ruins as Gamora watched her over from the window of Sanctuary 2, thinking. Just thinking about what could have happened in the future between her and Nebula.

She knew that there was one person that knew how their relationship will be in the end. She headed over to the cell where Nebula from the future was being held as a prisoner and walked over to her, "Tell me something. In the future, what happens to you and me?"

Her sister looked up at the floor, "I tried to kill you. Several times." Gamora rolled her eyes and turned to leave, thinking it was the only answer she needed to get but stopped when Nebula added, "But eventually, we become friends. _We _become _sisters._"

Gamora turned back to Nebula, and walked back to her, extending her hand towards her, "Come on. We can stop him."

Nebula looked at her sisters hand extended towards her and wasted no time and grabbed it. Her sister listed her up back on her feet and the two of them made their way out of the cell.

Azurite didn't know what happened after the missiles from Sanctuary struck the Avenger headquarters. All he knew was that everything suddenly went to back as she was burried under some rubble. He had no idea how much has actually passed when he heard someone picking up the rubble he was trapped under.

A minute had to pass until he was able to move again and leave his prison. He turned to the one who freed him. It was Garnet, "Azurite, it's good to see you."

Azurite nodded his head at her, "You too, Garnet."

"Let's go. Tony and Thor are nearby." Garnet informed him and gestured him to follow her. Azurite obliged and followed her through the ruins until they came acros Tony Stark who was standing over Captain America's unconscious body on the ground, Rogers shield was in his hand.

Stark looked up at them, spotting Azurite's presence by Garnet's side, "You found Az, Three Eyes."

The fusion looked down at Steve's body, "And you found Steve."

"We should wake him up." Azurite stated.

"Come on, buddy. Wake up." Tony put his boot on Cap's chest and pressed a little pressure on it, waking the first Avenger from his slumber, "That's my man." He showed Steve that he had his shield, "You lose this again, I'm keeping it."

Steve looked around himself, seeing the destruction around him, "What happened?"

"You messed with time. It tends to mess back. You'll see." Tony told him as he offered his hand to Steve who accepted it and brought himself back on his feet. He handed him his shield back as led the group of four Avengers out of the ruins where they met up withThor.

The God of Thunder stared at something, or rather at someone. Thanos sat on the rock in the very center of the destruction caused by his ship, looking back at htem.

"It's him." Azurite stated, his eyes instantly catching the sight of the Mad Titan. He recognized his ship but he hoped that it wasn't going to be him.

"What's he been doing?" Tony asked Thor.

Thor's answer was quick, "Absolutely nothing."

"Where are the stones?" Steve wanted to know.

Garnet gestured towards the ruins around them, "Somewhere under all of this."

"All we know is he doesn't have them." Tony added.

"So we keep it that way." Steve stated.

"You know it's a trap, right?" Thor asked all of them.

"Yeah. And I don't much care." Tony answered.

"He's simply waiting for someone to approach him." Garnet remarked, summoning her gauntlets.

"So, let's give him exactly what he wants." Azurite added, his eyes filling with hate he felt for Thanos.

"Good as long as we are all in agreement." Thor said. Thunder cracked as he stretched out both of his hands to summon both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. His casual clothes transformed into his armour and cape, and his beard got some braid treatment, "Let's kill him properly this time."

"You took those words right out of my mouth, Thor." Azurite agreed with Thor as his claws appeared on his fists.

The five Avengers stepped forward from the ruins of the headquarters, marching towards Thanos, side by side. The Mad Titan continued to sit on the spot he found himself as he messed with a rock in his hand, thinking about the journey he made for himself to restore the balance in the universe. He thought about how he'd fullfil his destiny in the future, and save the universe from overpopulation, and yet, there were still people that were too stubborn to accept what the universe could become. These people will remember what the universe used to be and will resist accept the change. They would try to find a way how to reserve everything, how to take his destiny away from him.

He looked over at the five Avengers approaching him and spoke up to them, "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to _me_."

He continued to sit here. He didn't even moved an inch as they were getting closer to him. The God of Thunder and the male gem took the right path, while the Iron Avenger and the fusion took the left, leaving the Captain in the middle of their march.

"I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible." He continued as he looked over at them, "As long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."

Tony looked at him defiantly, "Yep. We're all kinds of stubborn."

"And we're not sorry about that." Azurite added, glaring at him.

"I'm thankful. Because now, I know what I must do." He threw the rock aside and stood up, making everyone get ready for what was going to happen next, "I will shred this universe down to its last atom." He picked up his helmet from the edge of his sword and put it over his head, " And then with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one." He got his sword off the ground and looked at it, "Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given."

Azurite clenched his fists. This mad man really couldn't accept that universe rejected his idea and was going to shred it to it's last atoms. Tony could find himself shaking, this was it. The nightmares he has been having since the battle of New York in 2012 were coming true. Lightning meterialized on Thor's hands, energy sparking around his weapons.

The Mad Titan turned back to his enemies, facing them, "A _grateful _universe."

"Born out of blood." Steve pointed out, glaring at him.

"They'll never know it" Thanos stated, readying his weapon, "Because you won't be alive to tell them."

"We'll see about that." Garnet said, glaring behind her visiors at the Mad TItan.

Thor let out an issuing battle cry as Tony had his mask materialize over his face to cover it. Captain America led the assault and threw his shield at the Mad Titan, only to have it deflected by his sword. The shield fell right into it's owner's hands as Iron Man brought forth an energy blade from his right wrist, but his strike was blocked and knocked to the ground. Azurite moved in to cut him with his claws, only to have scratched his blade. The Titan kicked Azurite right in the chest just a moment after after his failed strike, sending. him to the ground as Garnet moved in to punch him in the chest side of his armor to have her attack blocked. The Mad Titan swung his blade at the fusion, sending her flying backwards. Thanos swung below, his strike heading straight for the first Avenger who raised an attempt to block the strike. The force of it sent Steve backwards, landing right next to Azurite and Garnet. Thor threw Mjolnir at the Mad Titan who dodged it by inches and reached his hand out to catch it, but the hammer simply flied away. Thanos dodged the swung of Stormbreaker that was headed straight for this neck and kicked back the God of Thunder, who crushed somewhere among the rubble.

Banner, Shi'ra, Peridot, Jasper, Rocket and Rhodes were still trapped undearneath of the ruins. Banner and Jasper were still trying to keep the rubble from falling on top of them as the water was slowly engulfing more and more of their entire bodies to the point where almost their entire bodies except for their heads were covered by water.

"See you on the other side, guys!" Rhodes called over to them, knowing that it was a matter of seconds until the water will cover their entire bodies.

"Not the time, Rhodey!" Shi'ra called back, feeling how the watter just reached the upper half of her neck. She really hoped she could hold her breath for long.

They had no idea that Ant-Man was coming in their way to save them. Scott slid into a rock rock and jumped on top of the pencil to bounce himself off it to dive into the water, "Hang on! I'm coming!"

The situation was even worse for Clint and Amethyst. They still were running for their lives as fast as they could through the sewers. Out of the desperation, Barton started planting some explosive arrows along the way, as they proceeded to run away from the horde of Outriders.

"Get ready!" He told her as the charges were detonated, engulfing the Outriders in fire. The fire consumed the beasts as they were thrown away upon the impact of the explosion.

The first thing the purple gem did was picking up the Nano Gauntlet as they got themselves back on their feet. They looked to see that the Outriders survived despise the fact that the arrows Clint planted just exploded and were being burned alive. As the flames died down, they charged at them again, the explosion

Clint wrapped his left hand around Amethyst, who didn't had a question why he did as he looked up and fired a grappling cable towards the ceiling and had them carried into the upper levels but the Outriders didn't left them alone. The beasts followed them and began crawling over the walls.

Amethyst held her whip in ready as Clint took out his sword. Amethyst slammed her whip against the first Outrider that got close to them while Clint cut the other one that managed to reach them in the half. They reached the exit from the sewers without many other confrotations with the Outriders, but one happen the moment they flied out through the entrance to the sewers, but fortunely, thanks to Clint it shared the fate of the previous Outrider he took care of and cut it in the half.

As they fell on the floor, they got up to stare down to see if there was more of them coming their way, but thankfully, they must've killed all of them because all they spotted was the body that Clint just cut in the half. They breathed in sighs of reliefs as they fell on their backs, finally having a chance to rest, even it was just for a second.

It was when Nebula approached, earning their attention.

"Oh, hey, I know you." Clint stated.

"Nebula, you have no idea how good it is to see you." Amethyst told her as she held out the Nano Gauntlet to her, "Can you hold it for a second?"

Nebula took the gauntlet from her and pressed her fingers against her comms, "Father. I have the stones."

This instantly got Amethyst's and Clint's attention, as they looked up at her, voicing their confusion at the same time, "What?"

They tried to get up but Nebula held them down with her boot. She pulled out a blaster, intending to finish both of them off but a familiar voice stopped her from doing it.

"Stop." She turned to the source of the voice and saw Gamora coming out of the shadows with a blaster of her own aimed at her.

Nebula got her boot off Clint's and Amethyst's chests as she shifted her attention towards her sister, her blaster not leaving the human and the gem on the ground, "You're betraying us?"

She quickly got the answer to her question, but it wasn't anything she wanted. She saw her future self step out of the shadows, "You don't have to do this."

Nebula watched how her past self aimed her blaster at her. Amethyst and Clint rolled out the way, and watched everything before them, "I am _this_."

"No, you're not." Gamora told her sister.

Nebula gestured towards her synaptic drive, "You've seen what we become."

"Nebula, listen to her." Gamora pleaded her sister

Nebula stared at her own self from the past, seeing her eye water up, "You can change."

"..._He _won't let me." was Nebula's answer to her past self as she aimed her blaster at Gamora.

"No!" Gamora shouted but before anything could have happen Nebula pulled out a blaster she stole from Sanctuary 2 and fired it at her younger self, hitting her right in the middle of the chest. She watched how her younger self was thrown back at the wall, the lifeless body of her younger self now leaning it as Amethyst and Clint stood up, the latter picking up the Nano Gauntlet from the floor.

The moment Tony Stark landed on the ground six panels emerged from the back of his armor, each equipped with a repulsor at the end., watching how Captain America was getting easily tossed around by Thanos' attacks.

He knew he had to work fast, "Okay, Thor. Hit me!"

Somewhere behind him, the God of Thunder roared at the thundering sky as he held both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. Strikers of lightning poured down from the sky at him, fueling his body, flowing through his arms right into his weapons. He slammed both weapons together and and a bolt of lightning shot out right at Tony Stark.

When it reached the Iron Avenger, the stream of lightning was consumed by Tony's Stark back and charged up his armor to it's maximum capacity. He gritted his teeth as the sudden dose of energy flew through his suit. He shot out his hands forward towards Thanos, watching how the first Avenger was knocked away by the Mad Titan, just a second before a stream of energy of enemy shot from his hands and each one of the repulsors at Thanos.

The Mad Titan was ready for it, despise it being a sudden attack. After sending the first Avenger flying backwards, he turned his attention to the Iron Avenger and saw a stream of energy that was headed his way. He raised it double bladed sword and spined it around, diverting the energy. He had to take a step or two backwards, but he remained on his feet. The stream of energy wasn't able to do anything to his blade.

He gritted his teeth at the pressure of energy pushing against him, before roaring and and taking one step forward, which was followed by another one, and another one, pushing against the stream of energy. With each step forward, his distance between him and Stark was getting smaller and it was just a matter of seconds before he'd reach him.

Thor saw it and knew he had to do something about it. He did the first thing that came to his mind. He threw Mjolnir in the air and hit it Stormbreaker to make sure that the hammer would get to Thanos before the Titan would reach Iron Man. Unfortunely, by the time he sent Mjolnir flying towards the Titan, he already stood right in front of Stark and grabbed him by his forearm, glaring at the man underneath of the mask.

Then, the Titan saw the hammer getting closer towards him and his reaction to that was quick. He lifted Tony from the ground and held his entire body in front him as some sort of human shield. This from of defense worked, Mjolnir struck the Iron Avenger right in his Arc Reactor and the impact of it was so strong that it sent Tony flying backwards and even made the Mad Titan stumble back a bit.

Tony landed somewhere among the rubble several metres away from the fight. He let out a painful grunt before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, which his AI didn't failed to notice.

"Boss, wake up!" Friday called out to her boss, but he didn'r reply. He was unconscious.

Azurite saw how the Iron Avenger didn't stand up, realizing that he most likely lost his consciousness. He breathed as the Mad Titan now stood right in front of him, the two of them staring into each other'e eyes.

"Come on." Thanos declared to him, recalling him as a gem from his daughter memories that apparently lived on one of the planets he saved, and wanted him dead more than anything. Just another person that refused to accept what the universe could become, "Face me just as you wanted."

Azurite just stared up at him, his eyes dark with hate for the Mad Titan. There was no sight of even slightest fear in his eyes. Just hatred. Pure hatred.

"You've been in my head for over twenty years." The male gem spoke up to him, putting his hands behind his back. The claws on the had that wielded a glove able to form a myst around it's user and his enemies disappeared for a second, "I feared of the day when you'll finally find the localization of all of the Infinity Stones, and the day when your daughter that you murdered for you sick ideology informed me about it was the scariest day of my life, but you know what I feel when I look at you?"

Thanos just stared at him, stared at the defective gem that was looking at him with a glare that would burn an entire forest. Azurite's glare was not leaving his face. He already lost one home because of him. He couldn't stay on Konoritos all those years ago after his forces cleansed it because, It would remind him how he failed to protect Aleena and her family. He found his new home here on Earth and he was not going to protect it for as long as he was able to.

The male gem gritted his teeth, "I feel nothing. I only see a mad man that refuses to accept that everyone rejected his idea. A mad man that _will _be stopped."

He made hand gesture towards Garnet with his clawed hand as he finally pressed the button on his glove. Garnet remembered this glove. Azurite used it on the first day when he arrived in Little Homeworld to form a myst around them to take off the guard for a moment. This was actually the only moment when she saw him use this glove as he stopped using it after Bismuth gave him a pair of claws on Christmas.

It was when a myst formed out of nowhere around the Mad Titan, clearly confusing him. When the myst disappeared he noticed that Azurite was nowhere to be seen but instead he saw him drop from the sky, heading right towards him. The Titan blocked his attack by his sword, deflected him aside. Azurite was thrown backwards but it didn't do much harm to the male gem.

Azurite quickly got himself back on his feet and began running towards him as Garnet joined him. The Titan readied himself their assault as Azurite was the first one to make his way towards him. Thanos snarled, quickly reacting to each one of the strikes he received form the male gem. Most of his strikes were being blocked either by Thanos' blade or Thanos' armor but it didn't stop him from proceeding with his attacks.

Thanos could spot Garnet approaching him as Azurite tried to deliver a kick right at his armor and this was the mistake the Mad Titan was waiting for. The moment when Garnet swung her fist at him, Thanos grabbed Azurite's leg and lifted him up, using him some shield, just like he did with Tony. Garnet saw that but unfortunely wasn't able to do anything to stop her punch as she punched Azurite right in the stomach with all the force she had. The male gem grunted in pain as he was thrown backwards upon the impact of Garnet's powerful blow.

"Azurite!" Garnet shouted as she watched how Azurite was sent backwards by her own punch. Azurite didn't stand up after that, he just layed on the ground, defeated.

The fusion knew it couldn't take her focus from her main target. Each one of the blow she directed towards the Mad Titan was powerful, but unfortunely for her, each one of them was blocked by him. The Titan swung his blade at her, but just him, she also did a very good job at avoiding his attacks.

Unfortunely, it didn't lasted long. A strike that she couldn't avoid in time finally came as the only thing she could do protect herself from it was holding his blade right in front of her face. The fusion used all the strenght she had in herself to hold back Thanos' strike. The Titan gritted his teeth as he proceeded to push his blade further at her.

Garnet gritted her teeth as well she was using everything in herself to hold back his strike. She gazed up right at his eyes as her glare that everyone in Beach City and Little Homeworld dreaded to see was covered by her visiors. It was when Thanos got an idea how to deal with her. He brought his head forward and headbutted her, making a huge crack in her visiors but not completely breaking them.

He growled as he brought his blade down at her, sending the fusion several metres backwards. His strike was that powerful that it made her unfuse into Ruby and Sapphire. The two gems landed on the ground away from him, neither of them stood up after that. They just layed on the ground, defeated.

Thor Odinson watched how his gem allies fell one by one. Azurite layed somewhere among the rubble while Garnet was gone, unfused into Ruby and Sapphire, the two smaller gems remaining on the ground.

The Mad Titan then brought his focus forward, directly at the God of Thunder and the two of them faced each other. Thor tightened his grip around Stormbreaker and charged at him as Thanos seeing this, tossed his blade ahead of him. The double sided sword spined around as it flied right over Thor's head who slided right underneath of it and quickly shot up back on his feet.

Thanos was weaponless, and Thor knew he had to use this opportunity. He sprinted forward and leaped off the piece of ruins of the Avenger headquarters, his axe directed right at Thanos' head. Unfortunely for him, he didn't noticed that Thanos' sword was spinning backwards like a boomerang and returned back to it's owner the moment Thor leaped himself off the rubble.

The two of them clashed with each other, the God of Thunder swinging Stormbreaker, with his attacks directed right at the Mad Titan's throat. Each one of his attacks was directed towards one place of Thanos's body, head. Thor couldn't let it happen again. He was already close to killing Thanos once, but he didn't aimed for the head. He let his desire to make Thanos suffer take the control of his body and struck him in the chest when he had an occasion to kill, which led Thanos to snapping his fingers and wiping out half of all life.

Each one of his attacks was blocked by the Mad Titan who replied with his own deadly strikes. One of Thor's attacks finally paid off and it left Thanos's sword in variable position and he used this face to knock the sword off Thanos' grasp. Instantly after throwing the double bladed sword away from it's owner, Thor directed his next strike towards Thanos' throat, but stopped when Thanos raised his left hand and caught Stormbreaker's handle.

The Titan grabbed the axe and threw it away. He grabbed Thor's throat and tossed him around like a ragdoll, from one place to another, delivering a set of punches at the God of Thunder as he did so. He finally threw his against a rock and brought his boot down right in the center of his chest, holding him against the rock. He send a powerful punch right at Thor's face as the God of Thunder extended his hand forward, and Stormbreaker started flying right back to it's owner.

Thanos noticed that as he glanced back at Stormbreaker heading their way. He catched it before it even had a chance to reach Thor. He brought it down at as Thor catched it before the sharpened edge could reach him. Thanos pressed his opposite palm onto the back of the weapon to increase the pressure, pushing Stormbreaker further and further right into the chest of the god it belonged to.

Several metres away from them, Mjolnir, layed right in the dirt somwhere among the ruins, abandoned right after the fight started as it slowly started rising from the ground. Neither Thor and Thanos noticed it. The God of Thunder growled as he could feel his own axe pressing against his skin as the Titan's entire focus was on him.

Right before the Mad Titan could finish Thor's off, Mjolnir struck him right in the shoulder and knocked Stormbreaker right off his hands. He and Thor turned their attention towards the hammer and watched how it was caught by a glowed hand of a star spangled, Steve Rogers stoic expression turned towards them, well, mostly towards Thanos as he stood, worthy of wielding the legendary weapon of Asgard.

Thor smiled in astonishment, "I knew it!"

His smile faded away when Thanos kicked him right in the chest. Thor crushed into the rubble and was send flying backwards out of their sight, leaving just the Mad Titan and the first Avenger to face themselves as they were the only ones left standing.

Then, Steve charged towards him, spinning the hammer madly as Thanos charged him as him too, with his sword in his grip, as the disance between them was closing. Rogers swung the hammer upwards, hitting Thanos right in his chin, as he fell backwards. Steve gritted his teeth as he watched how the Mad Titan quickly rose back to his feet.

It was too long before Captain America made his next move. He threw his shield right at the Titan, who deflected it with his sword, but it wasn't the attack that Steve Rogers had on his mind. He tossed Mjolnir shorty after, but the hammer wasn't headed for the Titan, but for the shield above him. The hammer struck Steve's shield, sending a massive shock wave onto Thanos' back. The Mad Titan quickly crumbled once again, dropping his sword.

The second after his weapons returned right to him, Steve charged at Thanos and the first thing he did upon reaching him was droving his knee right at his chest, making the Titan stumble backwards. Since, then Captain America wasted no time. He delivered powerful strikes from both of his weapons all over Thanos' body and the Titan couldn't do anything as he was thrown backwards on the ground.

The first Avenger lined his arm back up sent a bolt of lightning directed right at his opponent. Thanos didn't had a chance to do anyting about it as the lightning struck his armored chest and drove him further into the earth.

Once the lightning finally ceased, Steve leaped him up towards Thanos and unfortunely he moved too quick and made the mistake that the Mad Titan was waiting for. Thanos finally had a chance to to something and he did the first thing that came into his mind. He grabbed the first Avenger by his throat and slammed him against the ground, making himself a time to get back to his feet.

Steve rolled out of Thanos' way, as Thanos picked up his sword and started making his way towards Captain America who's gaze went over to him to see the Titan approaching him. Thanos growled as he took his damaged helmet off his head and threw it aside before swinging his sword right at the first Avenger.

Rogers ducked his attacks for as long as he could until Thanos, having enough of it, drove his sword right at his knee. Cap yelled in pain as he swung the hammer, intending to strike Thanos with his back. Instead, Thanos excepted this happen and blocked his attack by grabbing the hammer and then the Titan used Steve's shield and sent him flying backwards.

Mjolnir fell off right out of Steve's hand as he rolled several metres away. Gritting his teeth, he quickly pushed himself back on his feet, only to be instantly met with Thanos' blade headed right towards his head. He quickly brought his shield above his head and blocked this attack and could feel how his eyes widened upon seeing that Thanos' sword cut right through his vibranium shield.

Thanos saw it too. He started swinging his sword violently, as Steve stumbled back with each hit his shield received as his shield was getting torn apart by Thanos' attacks. The last hit knocked Steve Rogers to the dirt. The first Avenger glanced over at what remained of his shield as half of it was shattered into fragments that were scattered somewhere around the battlefield.

The Mad Titan growled as he swung his sword forward, sending Steve flying across the battlefield. He crashed several metres away from him, landing on his back somewhere among the rubble. The first Avenger tried to get himself back on his feet, but he couldn't...

He layed on the dirt, breathing heavilly. It couldn't over. He had to get up, one last time, but he couldn't, it hurt, everything hurt him. He grunted in pain as he rolled himself to his side. He breathed in as he lifted his eyes his towards his enemy.

Thanos stood several metres away from him, among the destrucion as he turned over to the first Avenger and spoke up to him, in a deep voice, "In all my years of conquest… violence… slaughter… it was never personal."

Rogers looked away from, and tried to push himself back on his feet with another painful effort.

Thanos continued to speak, his gaze not leaving the first Avenger, "But I'll tell you now– what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet, then I'm going to go straight for Homeworld. It will be something I should have done a long time ago, and I'm going to enjoy it. Very, very much."

A beam of light appeared on the ground and out stepped four members of the Black Order. Proxima Midnight planted her spear into the earth, Cull Obsidian doing the with his hammer. Ebony Maw held his hands behind his back as he stood with his siblings. Corvus Glaive raised his glaive in the air, as the dropships were released from Sanctuary 2 and touched on the ground, right behind the Mad Titan and the Black Order, forming waves of dirt upon the impact.

The dropships opened, and the Outriders were unleashed, but they weren't the only ones, they were quickly joined by the Chitauri tanks, Gorillas, foot soldiers, commanders, all entered the battlefield. The Chituari Gorillas roared as their chains were pulled free by the foot soldiers and marched forward. Outriders charged from their dropships, numbering in the hundreds as more and more waves rushed and stopped behind their lord.

Thanos' warship just released an army numbering in thousands of soldiers, but it wasn't over. An armada of the Sakaaran forces was quick to join as their Necrocrafts filled the skies. Hundreds of Sakaaran foot soldiers were fast to join various Chitauri's and the Black Order on the ground, stopping right behind their master. Starships and chariots flew from the Sanctuary 2. Leviathans and Leviathan Drillers roared as they flew alongside the necrocrafts, starships and chariots into the battlefield.

As if the army wasn't already massively outnumbering them a strange large dropships fell straight from Sanctuary 2, they were much larger than any other dropships. The dropships split open as if there were eggs, revealing giant and by far the most monstrous creation in Thanos' entire army, the Chitauri Titans. His army owned at least half more of them, everytime when he used them, which was rather rarely, he only used a few of them, never really being in a situation that made him release every single of them into the battlefield. The Mad Titan smirked when he could feel them land on the ground. Some of them walked on two legs, and some of them crawled on four claws.

Ruby and Sapphire watched how the massive army continued to depart from the Mad Titan's ship. Their eyes couldn't leave the Chituari Titans, and how massive they were. They were probably as tall as White Diamond or even taller. The two gems finally looked away from Thanos' army and glanced at each other, sharing a horrified look. Ruby's eyes shot open when she felt Sapphire's hand clutch her own. She didn't hesitated to do the same, clutching her wife's hand as tightly as she could as they just watched, watched everything unfold right in front of them.

Steve Rogers stared at it all too. Stared at the massive army ahead of him, an army of someone who was going to shred the entire universe to it's last atoms. His gaze went away from the army and went to the ground. He pushed himself up, despise everything, despise the pain, and despise an army ahead of him. He grunted as he got himself on his feet. He actually found strenght inside of him to get up.

Thanos watched him with an expression of admiration forming on his facial features for this human that despise the odds was about stand against him, but he couldn't help himself but sigh. Sigh in pity for the same human.

He stumbled, and his body may have wanted to give up, but despise all of it the Captain America had done it. In the end he stood, deep breaths leaving his mouth. He gazed to his left arm, and despise it being broken in the half, despise his own symbol shattered by the Mad Titan's sword, he reached for his shield's strap and tightened it.

The first Avenger grunted and glared ahead at the army that continued to grow with each passing second. He gritted his teeth as he steadied his breathing. His eyes not leaving the Mad Titan's army.

Dozens of Leviathans and Leviathan Drillers roared as they flew closer to him, followed by chariots, starships and necrocrafts. The five Chitauri Titans that were released into the world marched forward, shaking the ground beneath them with each step they took.

Steve just walked. He knew it was death sentence for him to go against the army that big but he didn't care about it. His enemies were hardly shaken by it, but he walked anyway, intending to show them some resistance, even though it was he was all by himself. He would stand against them no matter what, to his final breath.

Out of the sudden, something stopped him. It was a familiar voice ringing in his ear.

"_... you read me?"_

The sound of this voice was enough to freeze him in his place. He looked at his broken shield, having no idea if his brain was just playing tricks with him and was just hearing things.

The voice came back just a moment later, and rang through his ears again.

_"_ _Cap, it's Sam, can you hear me?"_

The first Avenger could feel how his heart almost stopped. A voice that he had not had a chance to hear in over five years just rang through his ears. He wanted to hear it again. He wanted it to be real. He slowly raised his right hand and touched his comms.

It was when he heard something behind him. A sound of sparks. He slowly turned behind him and saw the orange shining glow.

It was just a second before Samuel Wilson's voice called over to him.

"_On your left..._"

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**It's happening!** ****

**If any of you were wondering how Chitauri Titans or Leviathan Drillers look like.**

**Chitauri Titans:**

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**Leviathan Driller:**

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	42. Avengers

Steve took his hand off his comms, no longer having a need to listen to the person on the other side as he stared at the two orange portals forming in front of him. He just stared as the portal spun to life with his eyes widening upon seeing three shadowy figures walk through it.

It took him a moment for him to recognize them. It happened when they finally entered the battlfield. The first Avenger breathed heavilly as Black Panther's mask disappeared from T'Challa's face, the stoic expression of the Wakandan King staring at the first Avenger. His sister Shuri and one of his most trusted guards Okoye walked alongside him. All three Wakandans stared at the Star Spangled Man but all he could offer them was his own breathing.

But their portal was the only one that formed in front of Steve Rogers. Steven Universe emerged from the other portal, with Pearl and Bismuth walking beside him on the right side, and with Connie and Spinel walking beside him on the left side. The hybrid of a human and a gem offered Captain America a respectful nod. Bismuth's right hand turned into a sharp blade as Connie tightened her grip around her sword.

Steve Rogers simply stared at them in disbelief. His brain wasn't playing tricks with him. All of it was real. They were standing in front of him. They were alive. Everything they've been through to retrieve the stones, to snap their fingers, to bring everybody back... worked.

It _worked_.

More gems began to emerge from the portal, stopping right behind Steven, Connie, Pearl, Bismuth and Spinel. Orange Pearl marched forward alongside Cotta and the rest of Centi's crew. Snowflake Obsidian, Watermelon Tourmaline, Rainbow Jasper, Blue Lace Agate, Ocean Jasper, Lace Amethyst, Angel Aura Quartz, Green Larimar, Carnelian, 8XG, 8XJ, and 8XL, Topaz, Doc, Leggy, and Navy were just one of the many gems that met their demise in Wakanda, and now, were brought back to life and were here, ready to face the Mad Titan's forces again.

Sam Wilson flew out of the the portal. Captain America's eyes followed Sam flying across the sky ahead and behind him.

It was when more portals opened. Dozens of them.

Thanos watched it all from where he stood, narrowing his eyes.

The portal that was showing the desolated westeland of Titan had been birthed. Doctor Strange was leading the group. The Master of Mystic Arts hovered down, twirling his hands in front of him. He was not alone. Drax the Destroyer held out his knives, glaring ahead as he stood beside Mantis, who was curling her hands like an insect. Star-Lord and Lapis came flying from the portal, eventually landing before Strange, Mantis and Drax. Quill clicked his mask off his face, showing his expression of hate towards the Mad Titan as he stood with his friends as, Lapis landed next to him. She stared angrily at the army in front of her as her water wings disappeared from her back.

Spider-Man leaped forward and landed several feet ahead of Quill and Lapis. His mask slid backwards, revealing the face of Peter Parker, his expression being the one of awe. He smiled.

Centi and Biggs Jasper stepped out from the portal that was showing Little Homeworld behind them, with Lion walking by their side. The sword Centi was wielding, the one that once belonged to Proxima Midnight was held strongly in her grip. Terra walked proudly by her captains side, her spear, and more importantly herself ready for the battle. Squaridot glared at the army ahead of her as a ball of energy was forming in one hand of her limb enhancers. Shorty and Rose unsheathed their claws, intending to use everything they learned from their fellow Azurite. They were followed by every gem that lived in Little Homeworld, Army, Eyeball, Bixbite, Orange Spodumene, Little Larimar, Cherry Quartz, Zebra Jasper, Crazy Lace Agate, they were all here, standing among the growing army.

Another portal was materialized, right above every gem that was coming out of Little Homeworld. A ship flied out of it. The now reunited crew consisting of Lars of the Stars, Rhodonite, the Rutile Twins, Fluorite and Padparadscha being the ones inside of it. Captain of this ship was sitting in his seat, a sword was laying on his knees just in case if he'd have to use it. He observed Thanos's massive army ahead of him, with his crew doing their jobs.

"Captain, I predict we're going to fly out of a portal." Padparadscha said.

Lars grinned at her words, his crew doing the same, "Oh, how I missed this."

Sapphire and Ruby stared at everything what was just happening, the red gems eyes were refusing to close, as the blue gem moved her hair away from eye just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Both of them fused into Garnet again, and the fusion adjusted her cracked visiors. The fusion of Ruby and Sapphire shared a quick look with Azurite who was slowly rising up from the ground, staring in awe at everything happening right before him. She sent him a hopeful smile and he returned it, sending her one too.

They may have still win this...

Steve Rogers smiled widely as he could feel tears forming in his eyes when he realized that all of it was real, seeing all of them here alive was enough to make him shed a tear, or even two.

"Yibambe!" the Black Panther shouted.

Shuri and Okoye quickly followed, "Yibambe!"

"Yibambe!"

A chant echoed right behind them, as more people were coming through the portal.

"Yibambe!"

T'Challa once again shouted, "Yibambe!"

Jabari Tribe, Dora Milaje, Border Tribe, Queen's Guard all marched forward, followed by Wakandan jets. The portal grew even bigger, and yet, it was still unable to show the full size of Wakandan army. All Steve Rogers could see were the filled fields of Wakanda, and, they were still barely to fit the entire Wakandan army.

"**Yibambe**!"

James Buchanan Barnes stepped forward, standing among the Wakandan army with his M249 machine gun. Groot walked next to the Winter Soldier, the talking tree clenched his fists, glaring ahead.

A huge portal which was growing bigger and bigger with each second opened and out stepped the army of the gems. Yellow Jasper, Purple Agate, Holly Blue Agate, Skinny Jasper, Hessonite, Pyrope, and Demantoid were just one of the many that came out of the portal. Holly's Blue electric whip was already taken out and ready to battle, and Demantoid was in her new limb enhancers, walking by the sides of Pyrope and Hessonite. Even Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl were there, the two pearls being in the front lines of the army that was stepping through the portal. The pearls held their spears tightly in their grips, the two having enough time to train how to use them over these past few years.

Even though the portal was a becoming bigger which each passing second, Steve Rogers wasn't able to see the true size of the gem army. This army was as huge as Wakandan's, or maybe even bigger.

Next portal opened right above Homeworld's army as out of it flied Homeworld's fleet, consisiting of as many ships as Homeworld's army could use at this moment. Emerald's ship was one of the ones in the front.

Another portal opened. So many more opened and the army against the Mad Titan continued to grow.

After five years of being separated, the now reunited Whitebound brothers, Jon, Robb and Rickon stepped through the portal. Their entire bandit tribe walked behind them. Robb cocked his rifle, Jon unsheated his blades, a smile on his face as he was finally able to see his brothers after five long years and Rickon twirled his blasters, all three brothers were intending to show Thanos and his goons what happens when you separate the Whitebound brothers from each other for over five years. Every member of their bandit tribe walked behind their leaders, all of them letting out war cries, showing Thanos and his forces that they're going to make them beg for mercy. Out of the corner of his eyes, Azurite could spot Jon Whitebound giving him, Garnet, Steve, Tony, Thor, everyone that was responsible for bringing his brothers back to him a grateful smile.

A portal revealing New Asgard opened on the other side, an army of armored Asgardians stepped out. Valkyrie was in front of the army as she unsheathed her blade while being atop of her winged stallion. Korg cocked his laser rifle. Miek sliced his blades together on her right and bent low, at the ready. The Scarlet Witch hovered down from her own portal, glaring ahead.

Thor smiled, as blood dripped from his lips. He got himself on his knee as Stormbreaker flied right into his hand. All he could do was smile, his friends, his people were coming together to stand against the greatest enemy.

Next to Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Lapis Lazuli, a portal was formed and Benedict Wong emerged from it. He slammed his hands forward, Tao Mandalas appearing on both of his hands. An army of sorceners, walked right behind him, hundreds of orange sparks falling on the ground as the sorceners were preparing themselves for the battle.

Next to the Whitebound tribe, the army of the Ravagers stepped through the portal. Kraglin Obfonteri held his laser gun in ready, glaring alongside his fellow Ravagers as Howard the Duck cocked his LMG.

The Wasp flied out from a small portal, enlarging herself and helmet going off her face to reveal Hope van Dyne glancing around her surroundings. However, she wasn't the only one to leave all by herself through a portal. A Lapis Lazuli came out just a second later, landing next to her. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and freckles were visible on her cheeks.

Tony Stark could feel his eyes widening as he sat straight up on the ground. The blue suit armor landed on the ground, raising it's head towards him. The mask slid upwards to reveal Pepper Stark, who offered her husband a smirk.

As the armies grew and made their way onto the battlefield, Doctor Strange finally landed next to his fellow sorcerers. He turned to Wong and asked, "Is that everyone?

Wong quickly turned to Strange, and said with a scowl, "What? You wanted _more_?"

On the corner of Strange's lips, Wong could have sworn he almost saw him smirk.

Everyone heard crumbling coming from underneath of the ruins, making everyone shift their attention towards it. Ant-Man, or rather Giant-Man bursted through the roof, completely breaking it apart. With his right hand closed into a fist, Scott leaned forward and released Rocket, Banner, Rhodes, Jasper, Shi'ra and Peridot as the entire group jumped on the ground. Rocket held onto War Machine's shoulder with a huge smirk on his face, cocking his gun as Rhodes send him a quick glance. Peridot stood next to him. She tapped her Arc Reactor two times and her Iron Gem armor once again overcame her entire body in a matter of seconds, the green gem intending to use everything it had to offer on Thanos and his goons. Jasper had a huge smirk on her face as she summoned her helmet as Shi'ra glared at the Mad Titan's army ahead of them. She twirled her spear as her plasma casters rised up on her shoulders.

Clint Barton, Amethyst, Nebula and Gamora were all watching what was just happening from where they were hiding in the ruins. Clint watched in awe as he clutched the gauntlet and more importantly the Infinity Stones as tightly as he could and Amethyst could feel tears forming in her eyes. Pearl, Bismuth, Steven, Connie, Lapis, everyone that she cared about and died in Thanos' snap was here. They brought them back...

Steve Rogers slowly turned away from the army of completely diffrent people that came together to stop the greatest threat, breathing heavilly as his eyes met the Mad Titan's. Thanos, maybe just for just a second, or perharps for even longer, felt a very cold chill race down his spine as his eyes observed the army standing in front of him. His sword slowly fell. His confident expression cracked.

"**Avengers!**"

Everyone started redying themselves. Groot held out his fists, the Wasp by his side doing the same as she readied herself for the battle. Spider-Man lowered himself, his mask materializing on his face and eyes glowing. Doctor Strange narrowed his eyes, his arms outstretched with Eldritch Magic, standing beside Mantis, Star-Lord and Lapis. Quill twirled his blasters as Lapis formed two water wings on her body, ready to fly into the battle at the any moment and Sam Wilson landed behind her. Steven summoned his shield, with Pearl, Bismuth, Connie, Spinel, Groot, and Bucky Barnes standing next to him. Hessonite took out her large and sharp sword, intending to cut as many enemies as she was able to with it. Spinel took her scythe out of her gem, laughing in pity for Thanos and his goons. Bixbite did a few clicks with her clawed hand, making sure that it was going to cut through her enemies. Drax the Destroyer held out his knives, Pearl planted her spear into the earth, and Thor landed directly beside Captain America. Beside Azurite and Garnet who were standing with Tony Stark. Beside War Machine, Iron Gem, Hulk, Connie, Lion, Pearl, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Lapis, Steven, Shi'ra, Spinel...

Simply e_veryone_.

Captain America held out his right hand and Mjolnir flied right into his hand. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the army ahead of him and said.

"..._assemble_."

* * *

**This is the chapter where past Thanos realizes how many people his future self pissed.**

**Corvus Glaive - "Sire, should we rain fire at them?"**

**Thanos - "Nah, I want to see this."**

**The next chapter will take more than usual chapter to write, mostly because it's going to be purely battle.**


	43. Assemble

Thor roared.

T'Challa roared.

Lion roared.

They roared.

The entire army, filled with completely different people of completely different spieces charged forward as one without hesitation. Each one of them, no matter if they were human, gem, asgardian, sorcener, or even a Ravager or a member of the Whitebound tribe, all of them became the Avengers the moment they charged forward to put an end to the Mad Titan's reign of terror.

The first Avenger was the first one to get moving and everyone followed him. King T'Challa was the first one to follow him, his Black Panther mask covering his face, with Shuri and Okoye charging shorty after, and with them, the entirety of the Wakandan army followed. Azurite was the second one to follow Steve Rogers' led. This was it, this was the most important moment of their lives. This will be the day when they will put an end of the Mad Titan's reign. It was going to be just like he said to him when they fought him off after the destruction of the headquarters.

They _will _stop him_._

The dust overcame the field that was once the Avenger headquarters as the thousands feets stomped upon the ground at the same time. Valkyrie pointed her blade forward, glaring ahead as she sat on top of her winged stallion. Many flied alongside her. War Machine, Peridot in her Iron Gem armor, Lapis Lazuli, Freckled Lapis, Iron Man, Falcon, Star-Lord, Pepper Stark in her Rescue armor, they were just one of the many that filled the skies.

With his expression stoic, despise the fact that a massive army willing to do whatever it takes to stop him was charging in his way, Thanos raised his blade, pointing it forward at them. His armies immediately obeyed his command.

The Black Order were the first ones from his army to respond to his order to charge. Cull Obsidian leaped forward from the hill and landed right behind his master. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive tightened their grip around their weapons as they charged forward quickly joining the side of the largest member of the Black Order, and the Ebony Maw floated above the ground, picking up several rocks and turning them into sharpened points, the four children of Thanos being in the front of the charge.

With the Black Order leading the charge, the thousands of Chitauri foot soldiers behind them followed them and charged forward. The tanks hovered above the ground as they joined the charge as well. The dozens of Chitauri Gorillas roared as they ran among them, among the Black Order, Chitauri foot soldiers, and the tanks. The Sakaarans charged ahead, letting their own their own battle cry. Leviathan and Leviathan Drillers all roared and flied forward, filling the skies alongside starships, chariots and necrocrafts. The Chitauri Titans let their own horrendous war screams that actually made some of their enemies flinch but it was a rather short lived feeling. The beasts charged forward, stepping on some unfortunate Chitauri's that happened to be standing in their way.

It was just a moment before the Mad Titan himself joined the charge.

Captain America was the one leading the army of the people that came together to stop Thanos, with his shield and Thor's hammer in his hands. Many charged alongside him. Black Panther charged and was actually one of the two that matched Steve Rogers' in his speed. Garnet was the other one. Thor gave a war cry as he gripped Stormbreaker tightly in his grip. Spinel glared ahead, holding her scythe in ready. if she could she'd use her ability of extending limbs but decided to stay by the sides of her fellow warriors in the army against the Mad Titan. Jasper's smirk was not leaving her lips as she charged by side by side of the likes of Bruce Banner or Korg, the latter was holding his laser rifle in ready.

Jon Whitebound roared as he ran alongside his brothers, it was quickly followed by Rickon and Robb as they let out their own roars, before smirks grew on the lips of each one of the brothers. Shi'ra could already spot both of her plasma casters already picking up a target in the army of her enemies, when she spotted a familiar gem running right by her side. Azurite send her a smirk as she returned it, the two of them charging as one. Squaridot used her limb enhancers get her in the air as she flied alongside many other gems that were in the possession of the limb enhancers, the ball of energy in her other hand was still ready to fire at any moment.

Giant-Man's massive feet shook the ground with each step took, but thankfully the ground was the only thing he hit, sending waves of dirt and dust forward and backwards, not a single Avenger a was hurt. Rocket grinned as he prepared his dual pistols while standing right on top of War Machine's back. Peridot flied right next to James Rhodes, who was flying next to Tony and Pepper Stark. Spider-Man swung from Giant-Man's wrist while Wanda Maximoff flied forward with the crimson on her palms keeping her in the air, next to Doctor Strange.

The two armies finally met each other in the middle of the battlefield and this was when the true madness started. Steve Rogers threw Mjolnir directly into the face of a charging Cull Obsidian, sending the largest member of the Black Order flying backwards. Tony, Pepper and Peridot shared a quick look with each other before repulsor beams sounded off and all of them blew up every chariots and starships and appeared in their sight, with the last one grinning behind her Iron Gem mask, finally having a chance to use the armor she and Tony were working on. Many gems began glowing and dozens of fusions of various sizes and abilities were created.

Stormbreaker collided with the ground in front of Thor Odinson, sending a bolt of lightning forward at the group of Chitauri's in front of him. Lion growled, sending several Chitauri flying backwards while Spinel extended her limbs forward, twirling her scythe around until she reached a group of charging Chitauri's, cutting through several of them like a hot knife through butter, grinning every moment as she did so. Lapis formed a beam of water that was sent right at the Chituari chariot, instantly destroying it. The blue gem spotted a Leviathan flying right at the Giant-Man who clenched his fist, with the obvious intention of punching it. She made this job easier for him and trapped the Leviathan in one place with her water chains, as Scott send a powerful blow right at it's face, sending it to the ground.

Jasper formed herself into a ball and an orange blur charged forward, crashing through several Chitauri's in her way, throwing them aside as she reached the target that caught her eyes. The Chitauri Gorilla roared as it charged right at the quartz soldier that simply smirked and moved forward at it, intending to show it that she is not the kind of a gem you want to mess with. Connie clashed with a single Chitauri and swung her sword at the alien. Her attack was blocked by her opponent, who was knocked backwards when Steven threw his shield right at the alien. The Chitauri stumbled backwards as Connie quickly finished it off by stabbing it right in the stomach. She used her boot to kick it off right off her sword and shared a quick look with Steven as they moved further.

Pearl, Okoye, Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl, along with many other warriors lowered their spears the moment a swarm of Outriders charged at them. Their tactic paid off just as they thought it would and the bodies of the Outriders were impaled on their spears. Rocket fired at his enemies while still being on James Rhodes' back, screaming every moment as he did so. The Wasp enlarged and drove her boot across an the Chitauri's face, the alien having no chance to spot her before it was too late. Valkyrie flew downwards on her stallion, making a huge cut on the head of a Gorilla trying to reach for Hope van Dyne. Her job was finished by Garnet as the fusion drove her gauntlets right at the huge cut on the Gorilla's head, slicing it's head off.

The wave of Outriders roared as the creatures charged at the Whitebound brothers. The three brothers simply smirked at them and prepared their weapons. Rickon moved forward, and fired his blasters, twirling them every moment as he did so. He was followed by his brothers. Jon swung his blades around, cutting through everything that even thought about trying to face him as Robb simply fired his rifle right at them. This moment of them fighting off a swarm of Outriders only made Jon realize how much he missed his brothers over these past few years.

Bruce Banner fell right from the sky, bringing down a Chitauri chariot with him. He slammed it to the ground and grabbed the Chitauri by it's head, before throwing it into the sky where it was quickly taken out by Squaridot as she fired a beam of energy from her limb enhancers. She got herself back on the ground and quickly looked around herself. The other hand of her limb enhancers that she used to fly into the battle changed itself into the weapon. She looked around and fired energy from both of her hands at everything that caught her eye.

T'Challa spun in mid-air and slammed his foot across the face of an attacking Outrider. Ha landed on his feet and extended his vibranium claws to take out another Outrider charging at him. Okoye stood right by her kings' side. She spun her spear around at the charging alien as Shuri fired off her weapons at the Outrider, bringing it down on the ground as it's life slowly left it's body. Centi swung her sword around to take out an Outrider charging at her. The former corrupted gem didn't had much break after kicking the dead alien off her sword as another one charged at her. She readied herself to take it out but someone else already did her job. Terra who didn't left her captains side brought her spear down at the alien's head, instantly ending it's life.

Terra offered her captain a nod, but then something caught her eye. She pointed in one direction as Centi's eye looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw Shi'ra. The Kratai twirled her spear around. Not a single of the aliens that thought about attacking her stood a chance against her. She came across some bigger opposition when a Chituari Gorilla caught her eyes. The beast roared as it charged at the single Kratai huntresses ahead of it. Shi'ra just shook her head in pity for this creature and aimed both of her plasma casters at it at once. She readied the shot to make sure it would his the Gorilla right in it's head and fired.

When the plasma she fired the Gorilla finally hit her enemy right in it's head, she couldn't help but stare in awe at what happened shorty after. The plasma completely burned through the Gorilla's head. The creature roared in pain as plasma slowly burned it's entire body, leaving nothing out of it behind. Shi'ra's jaw almost fell at in awe at how even more effectful her plasma caster can be when you use two at the time, never having a chance to witness anything like this before. It literally burned the Gorilla's out of existance.

"Stars, now I'm jealous of you having this weapon even more." Centi stated, with Terra nodding her head in agreement, as they approached her.

The Kratai grinned as she turned to the source of the voice. She turned around and approached Centi and Terra, stating, "If you want one, then ask Stark and Peridot. They made me the newer one."

Centi shook her head with a smile as they shared a quick hug with each other, "You did it. You brought everyone back. Everyone that disappered five years ago just popped back into existance before our eyes."

Shi'ra could help but smile at her friends words, but she knew there no time for celebration, "We'll celebrate it after we defeat this bastard once and for all."

The former corrupted gem nodded her head, "Let's go find our friends." She glanced around at Terra, knowing that her crewmate was looking for a certain gem since they stepped through the portal, "And loved ones."

Shi'ra and Terra couldn't help but agree with her and they moved further, taking out everything in their path. Drax leaped forward, screaming maniacally as he proceeded to stab a Chitauri Gorilla in the back, earning the focus of this creature, allowing Korg break from it's grasp. He spun around, slamming his mace across its face. It was when someone else joined them. Orange Pearl leaped forward and wrapped her palms around the Gorilla, cutting through it's skin. The creature roared in pain as Orange Pearl moved downards, finally finishing it off. She glanced over and Drax and offered him a quick nod and he nodded his head back at her. She and Drax met each other when Azurite introduced her and the rest to the Guardians through his device, but it was the first time when they saw each other in person.

Pepper in her Rescue armor destroyed a Necrocraft with a repulsor blast. A familiar red and gold suit joined her side, her husbands own repulsor blast destroying a chariot intending for Pepper with her back turned. Neither left each other. They hovered together, spinning around themselves and firing every repulsor they had, taking out the Chitauri on the skies and on the ground.

Peridot couldn't stop grinning behind her Iron Gem mask as she destroyed a starship with a repulsor blast. The effects of her and Tony's hard work were paying off. Everything in her suit worked perfectly. She quickly turned her attention to a Leviathan heading her way and she didn't wasted her time. She prepared every repulsor her suit had to offer and send blasts of energy towards the Leviathan. The Leviathan screamed in pain, but it wasn't killed as it continued to fly towards her. It was when Tony and Pepper Stark joined her side and fired their own repulsor blasts at the Leviathan who this time couldn't do anything and a moment later it's lifeless body collapsed on the ground.

War Machine touched the ground and dropped off Rocket before taking off once again into the skies. The talking raccoon aimed his dual pistols forward, killing each Sakaaran aiming their rifles for at him, watching as Bucky Barnes fired into the crowds of Chitauri charging them. Two smaller gems joined the Winter Soldier. These two gems were Eyeball and Army. They stopped right next to Bucky's with their own dual pistols and fired at anything in their path. The two gems stopped using their small knives and started using pistols after coming to Little Homeworld after seeing Rocket use one himself during one of his and Nebula's stays in Little Homeworld.

Groot extended his right arm forward, impaling three Outriders with it, while Bismuth send a charging Outrider flying backwards by kicking it away from her with as much force as she had. The creature landed right on it's back. It didn't had a chance to rise back on the ground as Bismuth stabbed it right through it's stomach with her sharpened hand, ending it's life. She quickly glanced around her surroundings to see if there was something headed her way before heading further into the battlefield, but something else caught her eyes. A few gems from Little Homeworld came into her view.

Bixbite glared at the Chitauri attacking her as she dodged it's swung of a spear, leaving it in a vulnerable position for the gem to strike back. She quickly used this opportunity and used her clawed hand to cut it's head off. Little Larimar and Snowflake Obsidan met up just a moment after the two armies met. Snowflake quickly formed a wall of ice in front of her and short blue gem used her sharp hands to make sharpened points which then were fired at the group of Chitauri heading their way, getting rid of some of them. Biggs Jasper gritted her teeth as she swung her sword around at everything that tried it's chance against. An unfortunate Chitauri was one of them as she simply cut right through it with her blade. She spotted Bismuth standing in the distance. She offered her a quick smile and nod of her head to which Bismuth smiled and nodded back.

Mantis leaped herself from the rock and got herself on the top of the Gorilla as she put her heands right on it's head. The Gorilla slowly collapsed on the ground as it was put to sleep by one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Thor and Captain America fought off their enemies by each other sides, they currently didn't wielded their weapons because they were thrown to take care of some of their foes, but quickly came back to them, only this time, something went wrong, Stormbreaker flied in Steve's hands while Mjolnir flied into Thor's.

Thor glanced over at the first Avenger wielding Stormbreaker, "No, no. Give me that." He and Captain quickly exchanged weapons, "You have the little one."

The two Avengers moved into different directions of the battlefield while Azurite clashed with two Chitauri, doing his best to avoid each one of their strikes which rather wasn't hard thing to do. his moves were too fast for Chitauri and their strikes didn't really paid off. He grabbed the the spear right in the middle of it and ripped it right from the Chitauri's grasp. He quickly used this weapon to take out the other Chitauri attacking him, before using it at it's owner. The two lifeless bodies of the Chitauri's collapsed on the ground before his eyes. He threw the spear aside before something else caught his sight. A group of Sakaarans in the distance pointed their rifles at him, and his reaction to it was quick. He was about move forward to get rid of them, but then the Sakaarans were cut right in the half by a familiar scythe and someone came into his view. He saw _her _standing right in front of him.

Spinel was here.

After five years, he was able to her again. They pushed themselves into run until they meet each other in a very tight hug. Azurite was hugging her so tightly as if his life depended on it. The familiarity of holding her again making tears leak from his eyes. He and Spinel looked at each other, looking into each other eyes for the first time in five years. It was when they among the chaos of the battlefield, Azurite quickly leaned down and gave her a deep passionate kiss. Spinel's eyes shot open in suprise at this sudden show of affection from him but went along with it and kissed him back, the two of them enjoying their first moment with each other in over five years.

When they released each other, they proceeded to stare into each other eyes, as Spinel spoke up to him, for the first time in five years, "I love you too."

He immediately knew to what she was referring to. He let out a small chuckle at it, but it was more of bittersweet one,mixed with hapiness of seeing her again, and sadness of her not being able to see her for all these years, "I missed you. I missed you so much..."

Spinel gave him a bitersweet smile as she lifted her hand up to wip a tear falling down his cheek, "Azzie, I can't believe it's been five years since I..."

Azurite shook his head, "Don't say anything. You're here now, that's what matters to me."

He smiled at her, making her bittersweet smile turn into a happy one before they kissed again.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Shi'ra's voice interrupted them as they released each other from the kiss and glanced over in the direction of Shi'ra's voice to see her standing with Centi and Terra. The smile the Kratai sent them showed that she was clearly rejoiced to see Spinel again. Centi was rejoiced to see Spinel again as well, because the pink gem was one of her closest friends while her crewmate Terra simply sent a smile directed towards Spinel and Azurite, happy that these two were finally reunited with each other, "Sorry to interrupt but..."

She was cut off when a familiar voice sounded from behind. Centi and Terra immediately recognized it, "Captain? Terra?"

Centi and Terra could feel how their world stopped when they heard that voice. They slowly turned around and saw Centi's crew slowly approaching them.

The captain of this crew was the first one to speak up to them, nearly dropping her sword at the view of the rest of her crew that was gone for over five years, "...Cotta, Delta, Saphron, Hawk, Eagle, Joy..."

It was just second before Centi and Terra practically jumped into the embrace of their crew, finally having a chance to see them again after these long years. Centi embraced her almost entire crew except for Cotta, but it was understable why she didn't. Terra jumped into Cotta's embrace, immediately pressing her lips against hers, to show her how happy she was to see her again, and how much she missed her.

After Terra and Cotta released each other from the kiss, the latter asked, "Was it really five years?"

Terra could only nod in confirmation, not even thinking about letting her beloved one go, "I love you."

Cotta's response was quick, "I love you too."

Shi'ra just stared at them as Azurite and Spinel joined her side, watching the scene between them with a smile on their faces, "It's good..."

"Was that Shi'ra I just heard?" The voice which belonged to Orange Pearl interrupted Shi'ra in what she saw saying. Shi'ra, Azurite and Spinel all turned around to her. Spinel simply stared at her with a smile, because she and Orange Pearl met each other just a moment after they found themselves in Wakanda in again. Azurite and Shi'ra had completely different reactions. They quickly rushed over to Orange Pearl and embraced her tightly, seeing their friend for the first time in over five years.

Shi'ra laughed happily, "Orange!'

"You have no idea how good it is to see you again." Azurite added.

It was when an orange blur stopped right in front of them. Spinel immediately knew who it was and cheered loudly, "Jassie!"

The pink gem extended her limbs towards her last roommate. She embraced Jasper tightly and her roommate didn't even hesitated and hugged her back. The orange quartz send a quick smile directed towards Orange Pearl, the orange quartz soldier was obviously happy to see both of them again.

She looked around her reunited friends, no her reunited _family _and said, "Let's finish it, once and for all. He made us weak, wanted us to believe in it, but today we're going to prove that he was wrong."

Rose and Shorty never left each other side since they stepped through the portal into the battlefield. The two azurites were using everything they learned from their fellow azurite and nothing was able to come in their way, even though their lack of experience in the battle was sometimes showing, it didn't really changed anything and the two gems held their ground. Shorty drove her claws into the chest of Outrider while Rose brought down a Chitauri attacking her. The two gems spun and fought in what could have been called a dance if it wasn't battlefield, but no matter how many they killed, more of them just kept coming.

Similiar thing was with Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl. The three pearls stayed by each other side since the two armies collided and waved their spears around at anything trying to come in their way. Lack of experience in battle was sometimes showing in Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl, but Pearl had to admit, despise the two of them having no much experience in fighting the last time when she saw them in Homeworld on the day when Thanos snapped, and was quite suprised when saw them step through the portals with spears in their grip, but after all, five years was a long time. A lot could have happen since she was practically erased from existance.

The pointy end of her spear fired a projectile at the Sakaaran firing his rifle at her as she turned around to her fellow pearls to see Blue Pearl lower her spear, preparing herself for the attack of a charging Outrider. The beast leaped forward at the blue gem, but it's attack didn't do much as it was impaled on the blue gem's spear. Blue Pearl for once had her hair moved away from her eyes to being able to see everything going on around her. Pearl then saw Yellow Pearl fighting off a Chitauri as the two of them swung their spears at each other. Pearl noted that each one of Yellow Pearl's attack was precise, but unfortunely none of them paid off as the Chitauri was blocking each one of them. It was when it seemed like Yellow Pearl was finally done with the alien and took a step back and fired a projectile from her own spear, finally getting rid of the alien she was fighting off.

Steven and Connie were actually not that far from her. The two teenagers stayed close to each other side as they clashed with everything that came in their path. Connie swung her blade around at the Chitauri she was currently fighting off, until ultimately finishing off by slicing it across it's brought down an Outrider and slammed his shield right against it's head, making sure that there would be one less Outrider on the battlefield.

It was when he spotted someone familiar in the distance.

"Garnet!" A smile grew on Steven's face as he spotted a fusion of the two gems he loved so much, remembering that the last people he saw before shattering into ash were Ruby and Sapphire, comforting him that nothing was going to happen to him.

He broke himself into run, and Pearl saw the fusion too and broke herself into run towards her as well. The moment Garnet saw them and was about to break push herself into run as well was the moment when Steven and Pearl reached her and practically latched themselves into her, embracing the fusion if a tight hug. Garnet smiled and could feel how tears leaked from all of her eyes as she returned the hug.

It was just a moment before someone else joined the hug. Garnet recognized the strong grip and immediately knew that it was Bismuth, but it wasn't over. A certain blue gem landed right in front of them. Lapis Lazuli smiled at the sight before her and it was actually not that long before she joined the hug herself, the entire group enjoying the moment with each other among the chaos of the battlefield.

After they released themselves from the hug,. Garnet send Connie a quick smile, to which she smiled back. The fusion removed her cracked visiors from her face, revealing her teary eyes to them, "You are here, all of you..."

They were here. After these five long torturous years she was able to see them again. It was when the entire group heard screeching from behind the fusion and saw a swarm of Outriders heading their way. They all send each other quick nods and readied themselves to fight them off but their job was done by someone else. A certain green suit armor that was unfamiliar to them, but familiar to Garnet landed right in front of the group of Outriders. A stream of lasers fired from the suit, slicing some of the Outriders in the half, leaving only a few of them alive. The gem inside of the suit wasn't done with them. She extended her hands forward and two beams of energy were fired at the group of Outriders, blowing them apart from existance.

She turned over to the rest and saw everyone except Garnet giving her a suprised expression. Her mask disappered from her face to reveal her rejoiced expression upon seeing all of her friends again.

Bismuth was the first one to speak up to her, "Peridot, what was that?"

Peridot's answer was quick, "Nanotechnology. Do you like it?"

Connie's and Steven's eyes were refusing to close after seeing Peridot in her own armor, as the latter voiced his thoughts, "Peridot! You're like Iron Man!"

"I and Tony called it Iron Gem." Peridot explained, using her finger to wip a tear of happiness that Bruce's snap worked and everyone was brought back to life, "Mark 1."

Steven could feel himself forming a giant smile on his face, happy that almost his entire family was here. He couldn't wait to see his dad again and give him a hug, but there was someone else that was missing. That someone was a certain purple gem, "Where's Amethyst?"

Garnet looked around herself, "She should be somewhere in the battlefield."

"I'll try to find her." Peridot said as she quickly took off into the air. Amethyst wasn't the only one she had to find. She also had to find a certain cloaked man and ask him about something.

Tony landed on the ground, bringing down down a stream of red-hot lasers with him, slicing various Sakaarans in half upon impact. With his feet planted, Iron Man shot out his palms and blew apart several Sakaarans and Outriders that leaped for him. He didn't saw the Chitauri Gorilla coming from behind. The beast crashed him against a pile of rocks and rubble, making him held out his two fists forward. Two Repulsor Cannons formed on his fists and fired at the Gorilla. The blasts barely even touched the Gorilla, the beast howling as it reared back with the slab of sharpened rock between its hands and drove it down onto Stark's Arc Reactor.

It was when it stopped as if something had froze it into the place. Both it and Tony looked back to see the webbing latched onto its arms and preventing it from moving. Spider-Man yanked hard and pulled the Gorilla onto its back. The beast screeched as the gigantic feet of Giant-Man crashed right on top of it.

"Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on." He immediately recognized this voice.

Tony's gaze went over to a certain spider suit that leaped forward from where it and it's owner stood, landing right before the Iron Avenger. The mask slid upwards, revealing the face of young Peter Parker. The young Avenger grabbed Tony's hand and helped him to get back on his feet. Tony's expression softened at the view of a person he never thought he'll see again, the man staring numbly and hearing very little that left Parker's lips.

"Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, Because I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us." And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time..."

Peter was suddenly interrupted when Tony broke the distance between them and wrapped his hands around the young Avenger, embracing him in a tight hug.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked him, his hands slowly wrapping around Tony's Stark's, his hero's, back. This question went without answer as Tony knew that no words had to said to show how happy he was to see Peter again. He closed his eyes and tightened his embrace around Spider-Man, "Oh, this is nice."

Peter Quill flied around the battlefield, firing his quad blasters at every enemy that came into his view. He landed in what appeared to be a destroyed room and fought off a group of Sakaarans. He kicked one of them right in the head before finding himself in a melee combat with a pair of them. He managed to kick one of them away which gave him an opportunity to blast him, which he quickly used, getting rid of his opponent. He attemped to fight back the last one of them but at one point of this fight, he ended up hitting the ground. The Sakaaran tried to use the advantage of the opportunity that was given to him and tried to send a blow at Star-Lord that would most likely kill him, but unfortunely for him, but fortunely for Quill, he was shot right in the back.

The lifeless body of a Sakaaran fell right on top of Star-Lord who pushed it off him. He turned around and his eyes froze upon seeing a certain Zehoberian warrior in the distance. He pressed the left side of his mask, making it disappear from his face, revealing his shocked expression.

His eyes were not leaving the person he just spotted, "Gamora?" He got himself back on his feet and slowly walked over to her. His and her eyes not leaving each other as he spoke up to her again, "I thought I lost you."

Quill raised his hand and gave her a comforting rub on her cheek, only for his hand to get caught in a tightening grip of Gamora who strangely for Quill was actually looking offended for what he just did. He grunted in pain as Gamora shot her knee upward and kicked him straight in his sensitive area.

"Don't. Touch. Me." She told him as he fell on the ground.

Star-Lord grabbed his nether regions and pointed at her while Nebula stopped right next to Gamora, "You missed the first time, then you got them both the second time."

"This is the one?" Gamora asked as she turned her gaze to Nebula, "Seriously?"

"The choices were him or a tree." Nebula answered.

Quill simply lookied at both of them in confusion, trying to figure out what just happened. Stephen Strange hovered above the ground as a group of Chitauri was caught in his magic. He didn't kill them shorty after, because there was somethig else in his mind for this unfortunate group of alien. Mystical purple portals appeared right under them and the alien were sent right through them as he landed on the ground in a place where the group of Chitauri once stood. He then turned around to face Stark and Peridot before they even landed. Almost like he knew it was going to happen and simply waited for it. Their mask disappeared, revealing their faces faces to the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange met their eyes, remained silent, and let Tony and Peridot ask the question he knew was bugging their mind.

"Hey. You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah?" Tony asked.

"Please, tell us this is it." Peridot added. It had to be the one where they win. It just had to...

"If I tell you what happens. It won't happen." Strange replied.

Peridot and Tony gave him nod of their heads in response, as the latter said, "You better be right."

Even after Iron Man and Iron Gem turned away and took off into the air again, Strange's eyes never left them. His gaze was mostly focused on Tony, as if he wanted to say something more to the Iron Avenger, but he knew he couldn't. All he could do was just to make sure everything was going to play out exactly like the way it suppose to. He would ensure their victory was achieved.

No one was able to stood in Ebony Maw's way as the member of the Black Order was making his way through the battlefield. Some of his father enemies were actually that naive and thought that they could stand a chance against him. Two Ravangers were one of them, but unfortunely for them they were quick to join the likes of many other people that tried to try their luck against the Maw and paid the greatest price for it. The member of the Black Order shot his hands forward and created a tower of rock and dirt that completely rained down them.

The two Ravagers weren't fortunate and didn't cover their eyes in time. The flying dirt and sand completely blinked their vision, which the Maw quickly used. He lifted up a few rocks from the ground and turned them into sharpened point. He pointed his index fingers on both of his palms and send the points right at the two Ravagers. The points went through them like a hot knife through butter and all the Maw could do now was to watch how their lifeless bodies collapsed on the ground.

He didn't got much break from them as immediately he came across another beings willing to fight him. These beings were three gems. Crazy Lace Agate, Zebra Jasper and Lace Amethyst all rushed forward at the member of the Black Order. Ebony scoffed as his eyes caught their sight, just another beings daring to turn their weapons against him, only to fail miserably at the end. Zebra Jasper was the first one to make her way. She hid her blade in her gem for a second as picked up a large rock laying nearby and threw it right at him.

The Maw simply remained in his place, despise the fact that a large rock was just flying right at him and moved his hand to the right. The rock was deflected in the same direction he pointed at as Lace Amethyst took the led and was the closest one to him. He made sure she was going to reach him created a spike of Earth which send her flying upwards and all Zebra Jasper and Crazy Lace Agate could do was just watch how Lace Amethyst was thrown away from them.

Ebony Maw's next move came quickly and he rose forth from the earth and brought with him several jagged shards of dead Chitauri armor lying upon the rocks. He charged forward at the two gems he was left with, at least for now, he wasn't sure when Lace Amethyst was going to show up again, if she was going to show up again. He extended his right hand forward and half of everything he was carrying behind his back was thrown at Crazy Lace Agate, aware of the gem being a fusion because of the two gems she had on her face and wanted to make sure she wasn't going to interrupt him in what he had planned for her friend.

Crazy Lace hid her blades into her gems and brought her hands over her face to shield herself from the strike and Zebra Jasper wanted to use the fact that the Maw had his attention focused on her and charged forward at him, making sure to take her blade out of her gem before that, to take care of him, unaware that it was something he wanted her to do.

She suddenly found herself raised from the ground as the Maw used his other hand to form a tower of rock and dirt, the same one he used to take care of the two Ravagers just a moment ago. The tower began moving towards the member of the Black Order who slapped his hands together. Zebra Jasper could find herself letting out a gasp as she could feel how the tower began clenching itself on her, and more importantly her gem. She gritted her teeth in pain as she could feel how her gem was slowly started cracking, and seeing this, Crazy Lace Agate tried to do something to save her, but it was already too late to do anything. Zebra's Jasper gem was completely cracked and the last thing she ever saw was Ebony Maw staring at her. But the Maw wasn't done with Zebra Jasper or rather what was left of her. He turned the remains of her gem into sharpened points and send it right at Crazy Lace Agate who could only watch in horror how her friends remains were turned into a weapon which was send right at her.

She brought her hand over her face as she should feel how the remains of Zebra's Jasper gem hit her hand. She glanced down at what remained of her friend, her fellow co-worker at Funland, and the first thing she did after seeing this was charging right at the person who just shattered her friend. She leaped herself up and punched the member of the Black Order right in his chin. As much as Ebony Maw hated to admit it, he had to give her that. She was actually the first being to land a hit on him since this battle started. Then, Crazy Lace Agate landed right on the ground and quickly moved over to the rock Zebra Jasper threw at the member of the Black Order. She used this occasion of the Maw stumbling back a bit because of her punch and threw it right at him, but unfortunely for her, this attack didn't really paid off as Ebony simply held out his hand and cut the rock into two pieces before it could reach him.

The member of the Black Order landed on the ground and frowned at the view of a fusion in front of him. Crazy Lace simply glared at him as her blades appeared back in her palms. She threw the one she wielded in her left hand, making the Maw bring his hand in front of him with intention of moving it away from him. This was exactly what Crazy Lace wanted him to do. She charged forward at him with her other blade in ready, but wasn't able to do anything as suddenly a spike grew right from them ground and threw her away from the Maw. She went flying backwards and landed several metres away from him, her blade flying off her hand. He then formed another spike which once again send her flying backwards. This time, the impact of the landing was so big that it made her unfuse into two gem quartez that made her fusion.

The Maw watched how Crazy Lace unfused herself and knew she wasn't going to be much of a foe right now. He floated over to the two quartez, stopping right between them. He raised his hands up to lift up the two parts of the rock that they in a form of Crazy Lace Agate threw at him. He brought his hands down and the rocks flew down right at the two gems who didn't moved away in time, and this rock was the last thing they ever saw in their lives.

It was when he heard a painful grunt from the background. He turned in the direction of the place from which the grunt came from and saw Lace Amethyst laying among the rubble. Her gem was cracked, her left feet was now replacing her right hand. The impact of landing after she was thrown away by the Maw was too strong. If she landed on her back, she probably would be able to get up and help Zebra Jasper and Crazy Lace Agate, but she landed on her chest, and more importantly her gem. She rolled herself on her back and had to watch how her friends were killed by Ebony and all she could do was now was just watch how he floated over to her, and actually spoke up to her.

"Your resistance will never work. Nothing will stop the Great Titan from getting the stones." Was what he told her as he pressed his boot right against her already damaged gem. She couldn't do anything as everything went to black, the Maw's face being the last thing she ever saw.

Ebony crushed the remains of her gem under his boot and simply floated away from them, to fulfill the task of finding the stones his father has given him and his siblings. He was unaware that Biggs Jasper, Little Larimar, Snowflake Obsidian and Bixbite saw entire fight were coming to help them but when they arrived, after having to deal with anyone from the Mad Titan's army in their way, it was already too late. Their friends were gone and their killer was nowhere to be seen in the chaos of the battlefield.

Biggs Jasper gritted her teeth in anger and could feel tears forming in her eyes but she knew there was no time to mourn their deaths. She was going to mourn their deaths once they'll win this battle and defeat the Mad Titan and his goons once and for all.

The Chitauri Titan roared as it moved one of it's gigantic claws to bring down a ship attacking it. Dozens were crushed beneath it's gigantic feets. Orange Spodumene and Ocean Jasper were barely able to avoid getting crushed by it's feet, but it didn't seem to be done with them. The Titan reached two of it's four claws towards them, and the only thing the two gems from Little Homeworld could do was running away from it as fast as they could.

It was when a certain giant Avenger came in their rescue. Giant-Man caught one it's claws headed their way. It was quickly followed by Scott letting out a growl as the Titan roared and pushed his backwards. Everyone stared at him standing his ground against the Chitauri Titan in awe, Ocean Jasper and Orange Spodumene being one of them, but he simply turned towards hem, his panic filled eyes gazing onto them. He made a quick gesture with their heads, telling them to leave and they quickly understood what he meant by that and left as fast as they could before more of them could fell as another one of the Chitauri's Titan victim.

Scott knew he had to think fast. He was barely holding back two of the Titan's claws, and the massive beast still had two more of them and was using this advantage to push him backwards. Lang was aware that it was just a matter of time before he'd be knocked down by the Chitauri Titan and who knows that would happen to him after that. His feet were already skidding several metres backwards. It was when an idea appeared in his mind. He knew it was risky one but nothing else was coming to his mind. He focused his entire attention of one the Titan's claws and moved his right hand to join the left one on it's right left claw. He used all the strenght he had and twisted it fiercely.

A sickening snap broke out, the Titan screeching in response to its broken claw. It made the Titan pull away, giving Scott a much needed break to take a breath. He send a punch right at the Titan's shoulder but he only managed to knock the beast a few metres backwards. The Titan's response to this attack was quick. Despise having one it's claws broken just a moment ago, the Titan used the one placed right under the broken one and striked Scott's left side and sending clear across the battlegrounds.

The Titan roared again and it moved towards Scott who knew he wasn't going to last long if he was alone. He shouted to his comms, "I need help!"

The Titan slammed its fist right at Lang who dodged to the side, noting how low the beast's head was to earth. He struck his fist against the Titan's face and earned a painful cry from it. It recovered quickly, continuing to swipe and slash and grab at the Giant-Man.

It was when the help came in as many way as it could at this moment.

Falcon came flying from it's side, unloading everything he had onto the Chitauri Titan, roaring every moment as he did so. The Titan moved it's claw towards him, but wasn't able to grab him as it was met with a loud explosion as War Machine appeared right behind it. James Rhodes used everything his suit had to offer and onloaded it at the Chitauri Titan. The Titan roared in pain as it could feel how some of it's armor fell from it's back. Doctor Strange was the next one to appear. Stephen shot out his palms, his fingers twisting and Eldritch Magic flowing through him to control the ground under the Titan. From that ground, several Eldritch Whips emerged and wrapped around the Titan's limbs, keeping it in one place, unable to break free.

It roared as more Avengers joined the assault. The ground beneath the Titan started to crack as the beast squirmed. Wanda Maximoff knew it was just a matter of time before it would break itself from Strange's grasp. She shot her right hand forward letting out a stream of red energy flow from her fingertips. It wrapped itself around the Titan's right hand, the beast roared when it realized it was unable to move it even an inch. Wanda gritted her teeth, being under so much pressure, but still held her ground. Lapis Lazuli and Freckled Lapis hovered right above her, the two blue gems holding her hands forward and water chains grabbed each one of it's claws, including the broken one and despise being in as much pressure as Wanda , the two of them held their ground against the massive Chitauri. The two blue gems send themselves a quick look, their last meeting was not a pleasant one but they knew there was no time for this.

The Chitauri Titan tried to break itself from their grasp, but it was now unable to even move it's claws. Iron Man, Rescue and Iron Gem came flying from behind it as the three iron Avengers stopped right in front of the Titan. The trio was joined by James Rhodes and the four Iron Avengers faced the Chitauri Titan. Rhodey once again unloaded everything he had onto the Titan and had his entire arsenal focused on the broken claw while the others took care of it's other claws. Six panels emerged from the back of Tony, Pepper and Peridot, each equipped with a repulsor at the end. Stream of energy fired from each one of the repulsors at the claw they chose to take care of.

The massive Chitauri roared in pain as it could feel how the repulsors blasts were burning through his claws. The roar became louder when he felt his broken arm was blown off by one fo the rockets send by James Rhodes who then helped Falcon and focused his entire attention on taking out the plate armor on it's chest. Not much time had to pass until each one of it's claws was ripped off from it's body. Tony, Pepper and Peridot all watched how the task they given themselves was fulfilled but there wasn't any time for them to catch a break. They focused their blasts from their repulsors right on the chest of the Chitauri Titan and more importantly it's armor which was alreadyheavily damaged by Falcon and War Machine, well mostly by the latter but it didn't change the fact that Falcon also did some damage to the Titan.

It was just matter of time it's armor on it's chest was completely destroyed and it's pieces joined the Titan 's claws on the ground. It was when the group of Avengers made their last move to take out Chitauri Titan. Lapis and Freckled Lapis shared a quick look with each other, knowing what they should do next as they didn't had to hold it's claws with their power anymore. They combined their powers to form a giant harpoon. They shot their hands forward and a harpoon was sent right at the massive Chitauri It seemed like it was enough for this Chitauri Titan. The beast gave it's last scream as it's massive body collapsed on the ground. It's body made a powerful shock wave and earthquake across all the battlefield as it collided with the ground.

The Wakandan warriors, Asgardians and gems had little success going against Cull Obsidian's chained hammer. The largest member of the Black Order either send them flying or punched them into the ground. He gritted his teeth in frustation as he had to deal with combined forces of his father enemies, and his frustation grew even bigger when he spotted two large gems standing in his way. Well, technically one of them wasn't as large as the other one because she used limb enhancers to move around. Demantoid and Pyrope glared at the member fo the Black Order before them and he returned the glare. It was just a moment before Pyrope threw her handfield fan as if it was boomerang it hit Obsidian like in the back before the weapon went back to it's owner.

It was when Demantoid made her move and her was prism floating behind her back glowed. She and Pyrope had gotten their prisms back for this battle, and they became quite handy. Her left hand glowed and green beam came out it, but instead of heading straight for Cull, it headed for a rock laying in the distance and picked it up. The rock hit Obsidian right in his back, making him stumble a few steps forward. Pyrope used her own prism to create two copies of herself which confused the largest member of the Black Order a bit but this feeling quickly wore off when he he saw both hands of Demantoid's limb enhancers glowed and send a blast in his way, which hit him and made him stumble back a bit, but it wasn't over, shorty after Pyrope used her hadfield fan to create a small tornado which was sent his way. He didn't had time to avoid it and it sent him flying backwards.

He growled as he got himself back on his feet. He gripped his hammer and Demantoid's and Pyrope's eyes shot open in suprise when they saw how his hammer detached itself and went flying right at them. Pyrope ducked in time in but Demantoid wasn't as fortunate and was sent stumbling backwards. Cull's hammer went back to it's owner before he charged at Pyrope who quickly reacted to it and send her holographic copies of herself at him to keep him busy even if it would last just a moment. Obsidian swung his hammer around at her projection, quickly making them disappear while Pyrope used her dress to float herself to another place where she was quickly joined by Demantoid.

They quickly striked back. Pyrope formed another small tornado and send it right at Cull which was quickly followed by her throwing her handfield fan at him while Demantoid moved towards Obsidian. Cull's hammer changed into a shield which was used by him to deflect the tornado but he wasn't that lucky with handfield fan which hit him straight in his back before it went back to it's owner. The largest member of the Black Order didn't had a second to take a breath as he could feel how another rock hit him on his side, which was followed by Demantoid firing a blast from her right hand as the circled around him. He was fighting on two fronts and knew he had to think quickly to come out of this situation.

His shield protected him from Demantoid's every attack but it didn't do anything with Pyrope's case. It was when an idea came into his mind. He picked up the rock which was thrown at him by Demantoid and waited for the right moment until he threw it on Pyrope. He knew it was going to do much but he just needed to distract her for a second. His plan worked when Pyrope had to move aside because of it and it when the shield changed itself back into his hammer. He swung it around to deflect a blast send at him by Demantoid as she took a few steps back. He growled as he send his hammer at her, but much to her confusion hammer didn't hit. It wrapped itself around her.

Demantoid screamed as Obsidian violently spined her around. It lasted a moment before he finally let go off her and send her flying several metres away from him and Pyrope. The impact of the landing heavily damaged her limb enhancers but it wasn't over. Her prism didn't followed her in time and it was grabbed by Obsidian who threw it on the ground and squised it with his boot. It was when her already damaged limb enhancers disappeared. She didn't stand up, she just layed there, defeated.

Pyrope gasped, seeing how she was now left alone with him and knew she had to think fast. Her prism glowed and three projection of herself appeared before him. Cull gritted his teeth in frustation as he waved her hammer around, destroying each one of the projections, until Pyrope used another one of her tricks and send another small tornado at him, but he simply changed his hammer back into a shield to protect himself from it, and when it disappered, the shield quickly changed itself back into his hammer. Growing more desperate Pyrope threw her handfield fan at him, but it was quickly deflected by Cull who finally reached her and grabbed her by her throat.

He could see behind her how her prism started glowing again so he grabbed it. He threw her aside which was quickly followed by him throwing her prism on the ground. He brought his boot down on her prism, destroying it. Pyrope gasped, knowing that she made her biggest mistake again and understimated him. She quickly stand up and tried to use her dress to float herself away from him, but unfortunely for her, time wasn't on her side. Cull growled as he repeatedly drove his hammer at Pyrope who stumbled back with each hit she took until she couldn't take this anymore and finally collapsed on the ground. The last thing she ever saw was a huge hammer being brought down right at her gem.

After ending her life, Cull Obsidian heard a painful grunt which came from behind him. Demantoid was laying on the ground, defeated. He knew she wasn't much of a threat right now and saw that a Chitauri Gorilla was heading her way, so he decided to leave the Gorilla to do the rest of the work.

Demantoid watched how the largest member of the Black Order walked away, simply leaving her alone, which confused her a bit. She quickly got her answer when she turned to the left ands saw a Chitauri Gorilla heading towards her. Knowing that being completely defenseless against the Chitauri Gorilla was pretty much a death sentence to her, Demantoid began crawling away from it as fast she could, but the beast was faster than her. She almost braced herself for her demise but then something happened.

Fortunely for her, someone threw a small throwing knive right at the charging beast. She turned in the direction of the person that just threw it and much to her suprise she saw Jon Whitebound. One of the Whitebound brothers used one of the throwing knives he had on his chest just in case if he'd need it. He threw another one, and another one as his brother, Rickon started run in circles around the Gorilla, twirling his blasters every moment as he did so.

Robb used the situation that his brothers were keeping the Gorilla busy and went over to Demantoid and offered her a hand, saying, "Well, this is the situation, isn't it?"

Demantoid simply rolled her eyes at his words. Her colony actually had a history with the Whitebound tribe and it wasn't a good one, mostly because from time to time the brothers were sending their people , or were going there themselves to steal some of their weapons which they selling to the various arm dealers, which only became more frequent after Steven came to their colony.

She accepted his hand after a moment and he helped her to get back on her feet. She titled her head to see the Gorilla that would end her life if the Whitebound brothers didn't came to save her. She saw Squaridot using her left hand to hover above the beast while her other hand was firing energy right at the Gorilla. It was simply a matter of time before the beast would collaps on the ground, and this moment finally came when Hessonite leaped herself from a certain rock and placed her sword right on it's head, finishing it off.

The Gorilla's lifeless body collapsed on the ground as Hessonite took her sword out of it's head. She jumped off the beast's body and glanced over at Squaridot who landed right next to her, finally having a chance to her see her commander for the first time in years. She offered her a quick nod of her head, to which her commander nodded back.

Hessonite glanced over at Demantoid and asked, "Where's Pyrope?"

Demantoid simply shook her head and gestured towards the place where remains of Pyrope's gem layed, "We tried to kill one of his generals, he was too strong."

Hessonite sighed and shook her head, realizing that Demantoid was killed by whoever they were fighting off as her attention shifted to the Whitebound brothers, watching how Jon was taking out each one of his throwing knives out of Gorilla's back, "Whitebounds, If this was other situation..."

"I know." Jon cut her off as he came over to Demantoid, asking, "Do you have any weapon in your gem?" Demantoid shook her head as Jon sighed, handing her one of his blades, "Take it. I can handle myself with one blade."

Although a bit hesitant, Demantoid took his blade.

Clint and Amethyst had no idea how long has it been since they decided to leave their shelter in the ruins and join the battle, the time seemed to slow down since Thanos attacked them. Each of them had their weapons in ready to take out each one of Thanos' goons willing to try take the Nano Gauntlet which was held tightly in Clint's grip away from them, and it wasn't an easy task. Neither of them even had a second to catch a breath because no matter of they took down a Chitauri, Outrider, and Sakaaran on their way, more of them came.

Amethyst wrapped her whip around the legs of a Chitauri in their way and brought his down on the ground, while Clint shouted to his comms, "Cap, what do you want us to do with this damn thing?"

Steve Rogers' answer came quickly, "Get those stones as far away as possible!"

"No!" The voice shouted behind Captain America. He turned around and spotted Bruce Banner grabbing a Chitauri and throwing it clear across the battlefield. Banner approached Rogers, stating, "We need to take the stones back where they came from!"

"How?" Steve wanted to know. "Thanos destroyed the Quantum Tunnel."

"Wait!" Giant-Man declared, something coming to his mind immediately after hearing those words. He shrunk back to his human size, pulling out a pair of car keys from his suit's pocket and staringat it, "That wasn't our only time machine."

Scott pressed on the key, and a car horn and jingle echoed across the battlefield. It reached Steve Rogers. Upon hearing the familiar horn, Steve Rogers got himself on a nearby rock which was giving him a good look on the battlefield. His eyes scanned the battlefield before him. Madness of this battle filled his vision but there wasn't any car in his sight.

"Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?!" He shouted, hoping that someone was going to hear it.

Flying over the Captain's head on her winged stallion, Valkyrie looked down at the battlegrounds, searching for what Steve needed. Eventually, she found it, frowning at the place it was in. It was far away from them, in a place where Outriders and Gorillas constantly ran down the hill. The van was simply trapped between the hordes of aliens.

"Yeah, but you're not gonna like where it's parked!" She cried out.

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Steve asked Ant-Man through his comms.

"Maybe ten minutes." Scott answered.

"Get it started. We'll get the stones to you." Steve told him.

"We're on it, cap." Hope van Dyne replied through her comms as Ant-Man turned over to her, having no idea when she got here, but he didn't minded it at all.

The pair shared a look with each other and smiled. The two's masks slid over their heads and they shrunk together. The Wasp caught Ant-Man by his arm, her wings furiously as she took them both safely across the battle, completely unseen and intended only for the van.

They flied right above Jasper who headbutted a Chitauri, making it stumble back. The alien dropped it's weapon and it landed right before Jasper's feet. She picked it up and stabbed the Chitauri right through it's chest. She was quickly approached by an Outrider who tried to jump on her but she took care of it rather quickly. She grabbed the beast before it could reach her and threw right on the ground. She brought her boot on it's head, killing it.

It was when a familiar blue gem landed in front of her. Lapis formed a wave of water to throw any Chitauri, Sakaaran and Outrider around aside and spoke up to the quartz soldier.

"You kept saying that you wanted to make Malachite up for me and get on the good terms with me?" She asked her to which Jasper nodded her head in confirmation, "You just did it."

Jasper nodded her head to that, giving her a small smile which was returned by Lapis before before taking off once again into the skies.

As if Clint's and Amethyst's mission to protect the stones wasn't hard enough, it only become worse as the time passed. They already had to face Thanos' forces willing to retrieve the Infinity Stones for their master, but when it became apparent that Thanos' forces realized they had the Stones, any Chitauri, Outrider, or Sakaaran in their view dropped whatever they were doing, and charged at the two Avengers.

Amethyst ran in front of Clint to make sure the path would be cleared for him. They checked their GPSes and saw that Lang gave the the signal of the location of the Quantum Tunnel. They had to survive to get the Nano Gauntlet to the Quantum Tunnel. Amethyst whipped forward, sending a wave of violet energy through both of her whips, creating an explosion which cleared out their path of their enemies but was it just a matter of time when more of them came. Hawkeye managed to help her. Even with his right arm wrapped around the gauntlet, his left arm still gripped his katana, and kept cutting through everything that approached him.

He barely dodged an attack from a Chitauri. He rolled and rised to his knee before firing off an arrow from his bow. It hit the alien in the center of its visor, killing the it instantly. He watched how it's lifelss body collapsed on the ground, but just a moment after a wave of Sakaarans, Chitauri, and Outriders stomped over it's lifeless body with the intention of taking the gauntlet away from the Avenger.

He and Amethyst quickly turned away from the Sakaarans, Chitauri and Outriders and began running away from them, but something went wrong for the latter as was jumped on Outrider who pinned her to the ground. Clint quickly loaded another arrow onto his bow and fired it at the Outrider holding her down, getting rid of it. Amethyst rised back on her feet and saw how many of their enemies were heading their way and knew that they eventually would reach them if they kept running. Someone had to stay behind and hold them off.

She titled her head and saw Clint's worried glance, "Go! I got this! Keep the stones safe!"

Clint only gave her a quick nod of his head and proceeded to run away. Amethyst looked around herself as she was surrounded by her enemies. She knew there was too much of them to take care of in her normal shift so she changed her shift into Purple Puma, gripping her whips tightly in her grasp. Her whips glowed violet as she formed herself into a ball and and a blue charged right at the group of her enemies, making a violet explosion around her and her enemies, killing some of them but a better portion of them still remained alive.

She glared at the as her whips began glowing violet again before whipping them at her enemies, covering her eyes at the explosion before her. When he uncovered her eyes she was immediately met with a sight of leaping Outrider. She grabbed the beast as it, despise being held back still tried to attack her, screeching every moment as it did so. Amethyst threw it on the ground and snapped it's neck by stepping on it.

She turned her gaze away from now dead Outrider and took a quick glance around her enemies. Two Sakaarans were firing their rifles at her and she swung her whip at them, taking their rifles off their grasp and making them fall backwards. Then she ducked an attack of a Chitauri and sliced it in the half. She picked up the point end of the spear off the ground just a moment after it fell on the ground and placed it right in the center of the alien's chest.

Amethyst continued swinging her whips around until she finally took care of every alien that chased her and Clint. She breathed in, finally having a chance to catch a breath. She changed herself back into her normal shift, but she didn't saw the Chitauri Gorilla coming from behind. The beast crashed her against a pile of rocks and rubble. Amethyst quickly held out her whips to protect herself from the beast. A moment later she titled her head when she heard a war cry coming from behind the Gorilla.

Carnelian jumped right on top of the Chitauri Gorilla and began stabbing it repeatedly with her small knive, not even thinking about letting go until the beast was dead. She wasn't the one only to jump on the Gorilla. Skinny Jasper, 8XG, 8XJ, and 8XL were quick to join her. All five Famethysts teamed up on this one unfortune Gorilla as it was practically pinned to the ground by the group of gems. The Famethysts proceeded to stab the beast until it gave it's one last growl and stopped moving, telling the group of gems that they finally managed to kill it. They stood up from Gorilla's lifeless corpse and each send Amethyst a quick smile and nod of their heads.

Holly Blue Agate was not that far from them. She swung her whip around and wrapped it around a single Sakaaran. The unfortunate alien screamed in pain as he was slowly grilled alive by Holly's Blue electric whip. When his grilled corpse collapsed on the ground, she turned back to Amethyst, saying.

"Go! We'll take care of the rest of them!" Was what she told her with neutral expression on her face as more gems from the human zoo surrounded her.

Amethyst just gave a quick nod of response and ran off, taking a quick look back to see Holly Blue, the Famethysts and other gems from human zoo fighting off each one of Thanos' forces that came in their way. She turned back forward herself and started running, avoiding or taking out everything in her path until her eyes caught the sight of a certain gem-human hybrid and his friend. She saw how Connie was send flying backwards and landed right before Steven's feet as they were in a middle of the fight with a group of aliens.

Steven kneeled over Connie to check if she was okay. Connie looked up at him as they grabbed each other hand. They began glowing and a second later Stevonnie emerged from the light, wielding Steven's shield in their left hand and Connie's sword in their right hand. They swung their sword at the Outrider jumping right at their head and cut it right in the half. They glared at the alien before them and from now engaged everything in their path. A Chitauri swung it's sword around at them, but none of it's attacks paid of as Stevonnie easily ducked all of them before they send it flying backwards with a firm kick.

It was quickly followed by another Chitauri but this one didn't even had a chance to move it's weapon against them as one quick precise strike sliced it in the half. Another Outrider leaped itself from the ground right at the fusion, and they avoided it's attack by putting their shield in front fo them in the exact moment when the Outrider was about to reach their face. They lifted it above their head and threw it backwards. The beast screeched as it jumped back on it's back feet and rushed towards them, but was taken out when Stevonnie moved their sword backwards and stabbed it right in it's head.

They quickly covered themselves when a Sakaaran began firing his rifle at them, but their cover didn't lasted long as they threw it right at the Sakaaran knocking him off his feet. The shield went back to it's owner as Stevonnie made her way to the Sakaaran who was slowly siing back on his feet and finished him off by stabbing him right in the middle of his chest. They were approached by another Chitauri but it's attack didn't do anything as Stevonnie knocked it's sword away with their shield, and then grabbed the alien by it's neck. They threw the Chitauri on the ground where it was finished off by a single stab in it's head.

There were just one of the many that tried their chance against Stevonnie but it always ended in the same way. Nothing could stand in Stevonnie's way. Not a single Outrider, Sakaaran or Chitauri was able to land a hit on them. They neither didn't had a chance to as they were slashed just after approaching the fusion or their attacks were blocked by their shield. They eventually had to back down a bit and cover themselves from the attack from the above which came from Leviathan, or Levianthan Driller, or Necrocraft, or starship, or chariot.

They turned their attention to a lifeless body of a Chitauri collapsing on the ground and it was when Amethyst came into their view.

Amethyst smiled as rushed over to them, giving Stevonnie the tightest hug she has ever given, "You're here! I can't believe you're here!"

Stevonnie returned her hug but the reunion was interrupted when a horrendous scream echoeded behind them. They turned around saw one of the Chitauri Titans walking on it's four claws just several metres away from them. The beast screamed as a familiar of plasma hit it right in one of it's claws. Stevonnie and Amethyst instantly knew who it was as they started to make their way towards the massive Chitauri to help the others in taking in down.

Thor Odinson roared as he flew forward with Stormbreaker in ready. When the Titan appeared in his sight, he flinged the axe with resounding strength and speed. It spun with lightning striking downwards and once the axe made its impact across the Titan's head, the beast moved to the side with an agonizing cry. It looked up and saw how Stormbreaker flied back into the hand of Thor. The beast roared at the son of Odin.

Steve Rogers gritted his teeth as he lined his arm back up sent a bolt of lightning directed right at his opponent. The Titan didn't had a chance to do anyting about it as the lightning struck it's armored back while Shi'ra made circles around the Chitauri Titan, firing off her plasma casters at the beast, eventually having to kill something in her way with her spear. Her eyes caught the sight of Spinel and Azurite running towards them.

Spinel and Azurite knew they wouldn't do much to the Chitauri Titan in their normal so they grabbed each other hands and a moment later their fusion Lolite appeared on the battlefield. The upper part of fusion wielded Azurite's claws while the lower part wielded Spinel's scythe. Lolite extended her limbs and moved right under the stomach of the Chitauri Titan, slicing the claws it used to move around, making the beast grunt the pain it was receiving from it's lower parts. The fusion of Azurite and Spinel moved past Shi'ra and send her a smirk, to which the Kratai smirked back.

Garnet and Pearl came shorty after. They moved in different directions instantly after arriving. Garnet began making her place towards once place on the side of the Chitauri Titan while Pearl, just like Shi'ra started making circles around it, firing projectiles from her spear. She knew projectiles from her spear wasn't doing much work but it still seemed like a good distraction. At least she ran in circles around the Titan until she ran into a familiar purple gem and a familiar fusion of a human, and human gem hybrid. She helped Amethyst to get up on her feet and they send each other a quick smiles, seeing each other for the first time in five years. They would probably share a hug with each other, but the situation of clashing with one fo the Chitauri Titan's wasn't the best one for it.

Thor glanced down at Captain America and the duo shared a quick nod with each other having the same plan in mind. The first Avengers twirled Mjolnir and prepared himself to threw it at the Chitauri Titan. He finally did when he saw Thor landing on the other side. He threw Mjolnir and the hammer struck the beast right in it's armor on it's back. Thor held his hand out and prepared himself to catch his hammer, but much to his confusion it moved in another direction. His eye followed the direction of his hammer and he saw something he wasn't excepting to see.

Garnet was standing next to him. What caught his attention about the fusion was the fact that she was wielding Mjolnir in her right hand.

She smirked at him as to which Thor shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eye, "Why not?"

The fusion couldn't stop smirking at him as she twirled the hammer until she threw it in the air. Mjolnir once again hit the Chitauri Titan as it flied back to Captain America. The first Avenger caught it and twirled it before throwing it once again at the Titan. Together, the first Avenger and the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire tossed the hammer back and forth to one another, dominating with it, destroying a better portion of the Chitauri's Titan armor on it's back. The armor wasn't going to hold much longer and the fact that Shi'ra was still firing plasma from her plasma casters at it wasn't helping.

It was when they spotted a certain ship from Little Homeworld flying in the massive Chitauri's direction. Sun Incinerator came flying right in front of the Chitauri Titan, firing blasters at the massive beast, and it was when the armor couldn't hold back and it's pieces fell off the Titan's back. They already could imagine the crew that was inside of this ship smirking after seeing how they tore off the armor off Chitauri Titan's back.

Garnet gripped Mjolnir tightly as she moved to the front of the Chitauri Titan and waited for the beast to make it's move. It lowered one of his claws, with intention of grabbing her, unaware that it was exactly what Garnet wanted. She salmmed the hammer directly into one of its lowering claw. The bone was shattered, the limb torn, and the claw flying free to come crashing to the earth below. The Titan cried in agony.

It was when the God of Thunder appeared hovering right above Garnet. She threw Mjolnir up to the God of Thunder, shouting, "Thor!"

Thor grabbed his hammer in the air and slammed Mjolnir into its bottom jaw. The Chitauri Titan let out a bellowing roar, as blood dripped from it's jaw, which was followed by some teeth falling off.

Garnet turned to Lolite, yelling, "Now, Lolite!"

Lolite nodded her head as she rushed over to the Chitauri Titan while Thor threw Mjolnir back to the first Avenger. She used the spinel part of herself to extended her limbs and wrapped herself around the Chitauri Titan. It was when Lolite finally let go off the Titan and went circling around his entire body. The Chitauri Titan roared in pain as the feeling of the claws and scythe piercing through it's skin overcame it's entire body.

Lolite landed back on the ground next to Shi'ra, unfusing herself back into Azurite and Spinel just a moment after she did.

"It's almost dead!" Azurite stated.

"Someone just needs to finish it off!" Spinel added shorty after.

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl knew what they to do after hearing Spinel's words. They grabbed each other hands as they began glowing before a massive fusion named Alexandrite appeared right in front of the Chitauri Titan. Alexandrite roared as she leaped herself up to be able to at least face the massive Chitauri in front her. She breathed in and prepared herself for her strike. It finally came when she opened her mouth and breathed fire right at the Chituari Titan. The beast was engulfed in flames and roared in pain as flames started practically eating it. It was just a matter of time before it's burning corpse would collaps on the ground, and when it finally did, Alexandrite already unfused herself into Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst, and all of them just watched the burning corpse of a Chitauri Titan.

Lars and his entire crew gave a quick cheers as they watched how the second Chitauri Titan was taken care off but their joy was quickly their joy was quickly replaced with confusion when they heard a loud roar which came from behind them. They turned back in the direction of the noise and jumped in their seats once they heard that something was drilling through their ship. None of them had a chance to say anything as the Leviathan Driller it cut their ship into two separate parts, barely missing Flourite who breathed a sigh of relief as the Leviathan Driller flew through the ship right in front of her eyes. She knew that it wasn't a moment of relief because their ship was cut into two parts, but the Driller would have definitely shatter her and every gem that was a part of her fusion.

Her relief was short lived as the part of the ship she and the rest of the crew was in began falling down. Everyone grabbed onto something in their ship as it's remains landed on the ground along with them, the impact of the landing knocking them on the floor. Lars groaned as he got himself back on his feet, making sure to grab his sword. He glanced around the remains of his ship to see how his crew was doing after this rather fatal landing.

"What happened?" Rhodonite asked, the fusion rubbing the back of her head.

Padparadscha slowly got herself back on her feet, stating, "I predict that something is going to drill through our ship!"

"What about Fluorite?" One of the Rutile Twins asked.

They all ran to the edge of this part of their ship and saw how Fluorite, and rather every gem that made her fusion crawled out the lower part of this part of their ship. They all send each other a nod. Their ship may have been destroyed but all of them made it out alive from the crash, but their relief caused by all of them surviving the crash was short lived when they saw that a swarm of Outriders and Chitauri was heading towards them.

They all prepared themselves for the confrontation.

Lars readied his sword, Rhodonite took out her own blades out of her gems, the left Rutile Twin took out a shield while the right one took out a sword, and each one of Fluorite's gems decided to remain unfuse, at least for now and took their own weapon. All six gems had different weapons, some of them had small knives, some of them had spear, or some of them had swords. Padparadscha was the only one who didn't had any weapon with her, but her crew was going to make sure to protect her for as long as they will be able to.

Fortunely for them help came in a form of a group of Ravagers. Kraglin Obfonteri was one of them. He fired his gun at everything that came into his view, which was followed by his fellow Ravagers. Howard the Duck was with them. He hopped onto the remains of Lars' ship and aimed his LMG at the swarm of charging Outriders. Lars hopped off the ruins of his ship and ran over to Kraglin and some other Ravager. He kicked an Outriders right in it's head, knocking it on it's back before he brought his sword right on it's stomach, ending the beasts' life. He glanced around his crew to see the Rutile Twins blocking a swing of a sword from a Chitauri before ending it's life, or Rhodonite stabbing a Chitauri right through it's chest.

Thanos has come across who were refusing to accept his gift and tried to resist before but this was something else. In his entire life has never came across a resistance that was this huge. The Mad Titan has never ever seen the universe turn against him. He thought it was impossible, and yet here he was, caught in the middle of a battle the universe brought against him and his destiny. He was approached by many, in all forms, each one of them having only one intention of killing the Mad Titan once and for all. Thanos' response to their attempts was always the same. Quick slice or stab ended their lives faster than they even realized.

But his focus wasn't on them. It was on the battlegrounds. His eyes scanned them in order of finding the Infinity Stones, but they were nowhere to be found in the chaos of this battle. There was simply no place for them. He swung his behind him and send a charging sorcener flying backwards. He paid no attention to him. He casted his eyes across the burning battlegrounds.

He finally asked, "Where's Nebula?"

Corvus Glaive poofed a Bismuth attacking him, before stepping on her gem, shattering her, "She's not responding."

The Maw turned towards his master and pointed in one direction, "Sire!"

Thanos' eyes followed the direction Ebony was pointing at and his eyes caught the sight of single Avenger. Clint Barton sprinted as quick as his feet could carry him, doing his best to avoid laser blasts and aliens charging at him from all directions. He barely dodged an attack from a Chitauri before he sliced his blade through it's chest, which was quickly followed him taking care off other Chituari which happened to the standing nearby.

He rolled and rised to his knee before firing off an arrow from his bow. It hit the alien in the center of its visor, killing the it instantly. He watched how it's lifelss body collapsed on the ground. He then turned around and a saw a huge group of alien heading his way with two Gorilla's leading them. Luckily for him, just a second after spotting this huge group of alien a familiar black suit landed right between them, slamming it's fist on the ground. It created a shock wave which blew every alien aside.

"Clint!" Black Panther's mask disappeared from T'Challa's face, "Give it to me!"

Barton shared a quick look with Wakandan king before handing the Nano Gauntlet to him. Instantly after aquring the Nano Gauntlet, T'Challa made a run for it. He used everything his Black Panther suit had to offer, his enhanced speed, and strength to his own advantage as he slashed and kicked and punched his way through the battlefield. He leaped himself of a piece of rubble, driving his foot into the face a charging Chitauri.

He rolled himself forward and slashed a nearest Outrider, ripping through it's leg. Nothing from Thanos' army was able to come against his vibranium claws. His suit was doing it's job as well. It absorbed the bolts of the Sakaaran rifle and Chitauri's rifles. Any Outrider that got lucky enough and managed to land a hit on him was met with nothing in the result of it's strike. T'Challa hopped over a Sakaaran firing at him and dug his claws into the alien's head and threw it straight to the ground.

He proceeded forward and the next wave of aliens was met with him leaping from a rock and striking the ground with a feral punch. The shock wave knocked his every enemy and was about to continue with the path he just cleared for himself but just a moment after hos got himself back on his feet and sword came spinning forward hit him in the side of his head. Black Panther grunted as he collapsed on the ground, dropping the gauntlet.

He turned to see from where this sword came from and saw it spinning violently back and return to the Mad Titan. Thanos caught his blade and reared it back as he charged at the lone Avenger before him wielding the Nano Gauntlet. T'Challa slowly got himself back on his feet, grasping the gauntlet tightly as he watched how the Mad Titan was getting closer to him and stones.

The Dark Lord was stopped when an orange blur charged right into him. He stumbled back one step backwards when his eye caught the sight of the person that just charged into him. It was Jasper, and she wasn't alone. Peter Quill stood next to her, gripping his blasters and glaring behind his mask.

Jasper and Star-Lord were joined by someone else when a familiar voice shouted, "**THANOS!**"

The Mad Titan turned around to see Drax the Destroyer sliding under his leg forward towards Jasper and Peter Quill. He steadied himself with knives still drawn and looked at them, "Jasper, Peter. I will aid you."

Jasper nodded her head at him, her eyes which were burning with hate never left theMad Titan as she spoke up to him, "We're done with you."

Thanos' answer came quickly as he took a step towards them, "I don't even know who you are."

"What about me?" A new voice came from the other side. It was cold. He turned around and saw Scarlet Witch land before him. As she looked up at him, her palms were covered in crimson power. Her eyes were glowing in red, "You took _everything _from me."

Peter Quill was the one who started their assault. He shot out his quad blasters, firing madly at the Mad Titan and getting several shots at him, but none of them did anything as Thanos' armor blocked all of the hits. Drax and Jasper used the situation that Thanos had his attention focused on Star-Lord and charged at him. Drax attacked his knee, striking his abdomen and pushing him backwards as Jasper made her own move and headbutted him with her helmet. She and Drax alongside Quill kept attacking him from all directions, while Thanos did his best to avoid as any attacks as he could, while also trying to strike back.

It was when the group attacking him spotted Wanda Maximoff rising up from the ground. Her eyes and palms glowing red as she lifted up stones and debris. Ths was the signal for Quill, Drax and Jasper that they should move out of the way. When they moved out of her way, giving the signals to start her her attack. She threw the stones and debris right at the Mad Titan who attempted to make his way towards her only to be pushed back by the debris she threw on him. He used his sword to shield himself from everything she threw on him.

The Scarlet Witch broke the distance between them and made sure Thanos would feel every inch of her anger. They clashed with each other as Wanda used her psionic energy as both defensive and offensive means gainst the Mad Titan's strength and speed. The Mad TItan swung his sword, intending to slash her with it as she blocked the entire blade with her palms, the red energy being as some sort of shield. When she striked back she shot out her energy at the Mad Titan and struck him in his armor and other parts of his body that were exposed.

He slammed his sword right on top fo her to which she responded with raising her hands and catching his entire sword. Thanos put more pressure on his sword, but it was no use. Wanda pursed her lips, not thinking about letting his blade go.

It was when she made a gesture with her head for the others to join the assault. Everyone immediately reacted to that. Quill shot back on his feet, heading into the skies again. He started firing his blasters at the Mad TItan from the above. while Jasper and Drax delivered a set of devasting punches and kicks across Thanos' face and body as the Mad Titan was practically pinned to this one position and was receiving attacks from every position, even though he hated to admit that to himself.

Thanos growled, it was so loud that probably the entire battlefield heard him, finally having enough of Wanda, Jasper, Drax and Quill. He violently swung his sword around, making Wanda take a step back to avoid getting hit by it as Thanos blocked Jasper's hit with his armored forearm and send her stumbling backwards with a powerful punch directed right in her chest. He gritted his teeth as he blocked Drax's strikes before grabbing the Destroyer by his arm. He screamed as he spinned his around and threw him right at Peter Quill. The two Guardians crashed into another, their bodies flying away from Wanda's and Jasper's sight.

The Mad Titan saw Wanda Maximoff before him again. She shot her hands forward, the blast of psionic energy shooting from them. It struck Thanos right in his chest and it made stumble several feet backwards. He grunted as he watched how she moved towards him, with the same psionic energy covering her fists. She screamed on top of her lungs as she proceeded to make her way towards him.

This was exactly what he needed her to do. He just waited until she was inches away from him and punched her with his free hand send her flying backwards into a pile of rocks and rubble. She tried to stand up, but failed.

He already had dealt with Wanda, Quill and Drax, at least for now, and it left him with only one opponent left to take care of. The orange quartz soldier roared as she moved to punch him right across his face. and when her fist collided with his face. She gritted her teeth as she send a series of powerful punches across his entire body, making him stumble back with each hit he took, but it was just a matter of time before he'd make his move against her.

In the exact moment when she moved her head to heabutt him with her helmet, he moved his sword upwards and blocked her strike with it. Jasper's helmet struck his sword. She took one step backwards as Thanos send a powerful punch at her with his free hand, making her stumble backwards. She looked at him just mere seconds before he struck her with his sword and send her flying away from him. The orange quartz crashed into the rubble, and didn't stand up.

He breathed in as he finally had dealt with this entire group.

He looked around and saw that Black Panther and the Nano Gauntlet were nowhere to be seen. King T'Challa used the opportunity that was given to him by Wanda, Jasper, Quill and Drax, Black Panther shot back on his feet the moment Thanos started fighting with the four of them with the Nano Gauntlet held tightly in his grasp.

He didn't made it far. He suddenly found himself and stones lifted from the ground in a tower of dirt and rocks. He looked around himself and saw Ebony Maw in the distance, floating in his own tower with only one intention of taking the gauntlet away from him. The Maw brought his hands to himself as T'Challa's tower began moving towards the member of the Black Order.

He looked around, unable to leave this tower and saw Peter Parker swinging over to him, yelling to him, "I got it!"

"Take it!" T'Challa shouted as he threw the gauntlet to Spider-Man.

Peter caught the Nano Gauntlet into his weebs and landed right on top of an Outrider.

It was when he spotted a bright light coming from the sky, and it was growing bigger with each second.

The young Avenger touched his comms and called out, "Guys! Is it just me or is something coming here?"

It was just a moment before a large ship that looked like a person and it's various body parts were painted in different colors came into everyone's view.

It hovered above the ground and three large figures emerged from it.

The Diamonds have arrived...

* * *

**Just imagine Greg's and Connie's parents faces when their children tell them about all of this...**

**The first part of the final battle is done! As you can see I did a few changes from the movie, like Cull Obsidian was not killed right after the final battle started, or Wanda didn't made Thanos call out to Corvus to rain fire (someone else is going to get this moment in the next chapter)**

**Anyway, hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.**


	44. Whatever it takes

Three large figures emerged from the ship that just arrived. The three Diamonds appeared in everyone's sight. All three of them stood together, for the first time in over five years, their eyes gazing around, looking for only one person. That person was the Mad Titan himself. The gems who fought on Homeworld's side during rebellion actually flinched a bit after seeings their expressions. Those expressions were something they've shown only during the rebellion when they spoke of Rose Quartz.

Azurite, Shi'ra, Jon, Robb, Rickon and many others on the battlefield couldn't believe it but seeing the Diamonds on the battlefield was actually quite relieving. They needed as many people as they could to defeat Thanos.

Thanos saw the arrival of the Diamonds and was immediately realized that this situation required certain measure. He'd have to do something he has never done before.

He turned to Corvus Glaive and ordered, "Release the Titans."

Glaive looked up at his father, asking, "All of them?"

"All of them." Thanos answered. The arrival of the Diamonds was a situation where he needed all of them on the battlefield.

His order fulfilled just seconds after he ordered it and five more dropships fell from Sanctuary 2 and they slid open as they were eggs. Five more Chitauri Titans were unleashed into the battlegrounds. The beasts let out horrendous war screams as everyone just stared into them. They barely managed to defeat two of them, and now five more completely unschathed Chitauri Titans were released into the battlegrounds.

Thanos pointed his double sided sword forward, ordering them, "Keep the Diamonds busy."

Peter Parker didn't stare at them for long as he was practically swarmed with Outriders. He was ready for that when he shouted, "Activate instant kill!"

His suit unleashed four extra spider-arms, each equipped with a sharpened, dagger-like end. Even though he never tried it before, Instant-Kill Mode worked as well as he expected and it t killed. A _lot_. Any Outrider, that tried to swarm him, was met with the ends of each spider-leg.

Blue Diamond moved forward and her eyes finally caught the sight of the Mad Titan. She glared at him and said, "Thanos."

The Mad Titan turned towards her, "Blue Diamond."

"We've been tolerating your existance for far too long. It's time to finally take care of you." Blue Diamond stated, her glare not leaving her face.

Thanos said nothing in response to her swords as Blue Diamonds moved towards him with, with two shiny auras forming on both of her hands. She shot her hands forward and aura was fired at the Mad Titan who held his sword in front of himself before it could reach. The blades began to move around the blade, deflecting her strike as the owner of the sword roared, skidding backwards a bit.

She had to stop her attack when one of the Chitauri Titans moved towards her. The massive Chitauri was actually taller than her and she knew she had to take it out before coming back to Thanos. The Chitauri Titan moved his claws downwards, right at her, as Blue Diamonds moved her hands upwards to grab them before they could hit her. Everyone watched the clash of Blue Diamond and Chitauri Titan, and the gem was ducking every attempt of the Chitauri to slash or to bite her with it's jaw filled with sharp teeth.

She grabbed its' claws once again, and she had an idea how to send it away from her, even if it would last just a moment Blue aura began to glow in her hands and when it was finally ready, she fired it right the chest of the Chitauri Titan. Blowing some parts of it's armor, because of her being just inches away from it as the beast stumbled back a bit, just like she wanted it to do. It was her moment to counter attack. She began to concetrate her aura into five square like projectles, preparing a strike which would surely damage the Chituari Titan in front of her.

But all of it stopped when she felt a spear grasp her side, as it did circles around her. Proxima Midnight stood in the distance, moving her hand around as her spear was making circles around the large gem, grapsing her on the sides of her body. It was followed by something else. She could feel how shots from all kinds of weapons touched her body as Chitauri, Sakaarans, chariots and starships and necrocrafts around her all focused their attention on her with only one intention of keeping her away from the Mad Titan. The troops in the air all swarmed Blue Diamond with with laser bolts and rockets to attract her focus.

Blue Diamond quickly casted her eyes around the battlegrounds and It was when realized how many of Thanos forces were focused actually on her and two other Diamonds, as if they had became his main priority now. Not the Infinity Stones. He knew how much of a threat they possesed to him, and knew that needed them gone as fast as possible.

It was when she felt something else grasp her side. Something that wasn't a spear. The drills of a Leviathan Driller touched her side as the beast flied right next to her and it hurt.

It hurt _a lot_.

She moaned in pain as the Leviathan Driller did a small hole in the side of her dress that it touched. She gritted her teeth as she began to concetrate her aura again, having no idea if she'd end up dong this attack or not. The Leviathan Driller touched her other side, creating another small hole in her clothing, making her wince a but at the pain she felt because of it, waiting or her attack to be ready as the Chitauri Titan moved towards her.

She let out a small smile when the aura flied into the sky and the square fired into everything in her path, decimating anything in it's path, creating waves of dust and smoke that had to wore off before she could see everythig around her. When it finally happened she saw that a good portion of Chitauri's and Sakaarans on the ground was killed by her attack, and that included some of the troops in the sky as well, the Leviathan Driller being one of them.

But it wasn't over. More troops were coming her way take the place of the ones she killed and Chitauri Titan was still alive. The beast roard as it moved towards Blue Diamond, with intention of inishing what it had started, only to be stopped when another beam of energy was fired at the Chitauri Titan, which was followed by another one quickly joining.

Blue Diamond glanced around and saw how White Diamond and Yellow Diamond joined her just to take out this single Chitauri Titan. She quickly joined them, and the Chitauri Titan screamed in agony as the combined powers of all three Diamonds were burning it from within. The massive Chitauri let out one long painful screech before It's massive corpse collapsed on the ground, creating a shock wave around it's surroundings but the Diamonds weren't done.

The three Diamonds glared at the Mad Titan and shot out their hands forward, firing the combined stream of their powers, the same that killed one of the Chitauri Titans at him. Thanos' reaction to it was quick and he held his sword right in front of him, shielding himself from the beam. His eyes widened when he saw small veins overcoming his sword. It just seconds before it the sword made of the most durable metal in the universe started to crack.

His sword was _breaking_, the power of all of three Diamonds was breaking his sword. At least it was breaking until it flied out of his grasp could be fully broken. The three Diamonds lifted him from the ground and, the golden plates of armor covering his body were ripped and thrown away. Crushed like a trash before throwing it away. Thanos growled and screamed as that force began to crush him the same way.

He knew would not hold for much longer. Running out of options, Thanos' mind shot back to his last fail-safe, his last trick up his sleeve.

He needed to live.

He had to live...

"Rain fire!" He ordered.

Corvus Glaive stabbed a charging member asgardian and lifted his body above his head, before throwing it aside, as he said to his master, "But sire! Our _troops_!"

The Mad Titan kept with his previous order, "**Just do it!**"

The wings of Sanctuary 2 opened, revealing dozens of energy cannons. The cannons charged almost instantly and fired down at the battlefield, at everything and everyone down there. Neither of the armies were safe. The first blows of the bombardment were like a terrible killing blows. The blue bolts of energy made a contact with the ground, and everything in it's path was decimated.

A lot of Ravager warships, Homeworld ships, starships, Leviathans, Leviathan Drillers and Necrocrafts were destroyed in shining blue explosions. The remains of those that weren't fortunate enough to survive the fire from Sanctury 2 fell on the ground, creating a massive shock wave that knocked a lot of warriors from both sides on the ground. Unfortunely in some of their cases the last thing they ever saw were neither the remains of falling ships, or the blue blasts, which instantly ended their life.

An army of sorcerers led by Wong created numerous defensive shields above their heads, dozens of various other Avengers of all spieces taking cover beneath them. Even Stevonnie formed a giant shield above them and everyone that happened to be standing nearby, shielding themselves and many others. All three Diamonds were thrown away by this sudden attack, releasing the Mad Titan from their grasp and out of the corner of their eyes, they could see how the blasts hit their ship. The burning ship of the Diamonds was one of those that fell on the ground, creating probably the biggest shock wave of them all.

All of the Chitauri Titans shielded themselves against the blasts. Snowflake Obsidian picked Little Larimar up and shielded the short blue gem from the fire from the above while Biggs Jasper held her shield above herself and Bixbite. Rose and Shorty screamed as they were thrown backwards, landing right before the feets of Yellow Jasper and Purple Agate who then used their shields to protect all four of them. Rocket clutched onto Groot as they fell, the raccoon screaming as the blasts surrounded them.

One of them hit the dam and water started to flood into the battlefield.

It was spotted by Pepper who was flying across the battlefield to protect herself from the blasts, "Uh, is anyone else seeing this?"

Doctor Strange looked at the broken dam and his reaction to that was immediately. He made his over to it and used his magic to stop the water from flooding the battlefield.

"I got this. I got this!" Peter screamed to no one but himself as he was still practically pinned down to one position as there was no end for the Outrider, no matter how many Outriders his spider legs killed, more just kept coming. He clutched the gauntlet tighter than before, as he called out through his comms, "Okay, I don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!"

Steve Rogers heard his cries for help. He pressed his free hand to his comms, and responded, "Hey, Queens, heads up."

The first Avenger threw Mjolnir across the battlefield, and Spider-Man quickly caught the sight of it flying right above him. He extended his hand shoot out a web, attaching himself into the hammer. He was instantly lifted up from the ground, and went flying across the battlefield along with the hammer.

He was suprised when a certain blue Iron Man suit grabbed him, with Pepper Stark calling out to him, "Hang on! I got you, kid!" She threw Peter upwards and the young Avenger landed right on the back of Lapis Lazuli.

"it's nice to see you again, blue lady!" Peter called out to Lapis, having a chance to met her back on Titan, "OH, MY GOD!"

He didn't even had a chance to finish what he was saying as Lapis narrowed her eyes as she did her past to avoid any of the blasts from Sanctuary 2 sent her and Peter's way. She had to change her directions from right to left too many times that she actually lost her count, but her and Peter's luck ran out when they flied past a piece of rubble making a small hill. The blast from Sanctuary 2 hit the hill, separating Lapis and Peter and sending them flying in different directions.

The Nano Gauntlet fell out from Peter's hand, but his reaction to it was quick and he shot out his weeb, catching it again. He landed on the ground and began to ran forward himself, but it didn't lasted long. One of the blasts touched the ground inches away from his feet, destroying his spider legs and sending him flying backwards. His mask slid upwards from his face as he hit the ground. He grunted in pain, clutching the Nano Gauntlet close to his chest, as blasts just continued making the contact with the ground.

And then all the fire stopped, just stopped.

Everyone that managed to survive the fire from Sanctuary 2 rised up from the ground and stared in the same direction. Thanos stared at his warship too. The Dark Lord watched how every single cannon of Sanctuary 2 changed their focus and fired directly into the clouds, disappearing within them. He wondered why would they change their focus, and there was only one explanation he could find for it. They must've detected coming from the sky, something that could have been a greater threat.

"What the hell is this?" Sam Wilson asked, being confused just as much as everyone else.

"Friday, what's going on?" Tony asked the AI in her suit, gazing into the skies, trying to figure out why the cannons started firing upwards instead of them.

"_Something just entered the upper atmosphere!_" Friday replied.

A bright light heading right towards Sanctuary 2 appeared in everyone's sight. Many on the battlefield had no idea who it was, but a few of them exactly knew who came here to help them. Carol Danvers just joined the battle. The fire from Thanos' warship tried to knock her down, but no one of the blasts hit her. She went flying right through Sanctuary 2, blowing parts of the Mad Titan's ship up, making the army of the Avengers cheer.

Rocket was one of them, "Oh, yeah!"

Danvers continued to fly through the shup, leaving more in it, as Sanctuary 2 was engulfed in explosions as Carol Danvers got out of it. She watched how the ship fell down into the river, making a splash upon making a contact with it.

Garnet smirked, seeing how Thanos' warship was just destroyed as quickly contacted with Danvers through her comms, "Danvers! We need your help here!"

Pearl watched in awe how the massive warship was just destroyed by single person, asking Amethyst, "Who's that?"

Amethyst's answer was quick, "Long story."

Thanos felt those shock waves made by his own warship after it crashed into the river. They were even bigger than those made by the Diamonds ship after it was destroyed by the blasts from Sanctuary 2. All he could do was breathe. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. He looked in disbelief, horror and _fear_, the feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. He watched in fear how his warship, his home was just destroyed and became just one of the many remains of the ships on the the battlegrounds.

The Diamonds watched it too, but their couldn't stare at it for long as they caught the view of the seven Chitauri Titans charging towards them, followed by hundreds of Thanos' forces of all kinds.

When Peter Parker opened his eyes, the Nano Gauntlet still not leaving his grasp he saw a woman in gold, blue, and red uniform standing in front of him, offering him a smirk.

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker." He greeted her nervously.

"Hey, Peter Parker." Her smirk became wider, "You got something for me?"

Peter nodded his head, wiping from drop of blood that went down his nose with his free hand. She handed her the Nano Gauntlet. They looked behind them and casted their eyes across the battlegrounds, where the portal of the Quantum Tunnel was bright and waiting. Both Scott and Hope waved to them before shrinking down and flying off together, leaving just portal. This wasn't the only thing they spotted. A better portion of Thanos' army, the Black Order, Chitauri, Sakaarans, Gorilla's, Leviathan's, Leviathan Drillers, chariots, starship and necrocrafts were making their way towards them with only one intention of taking the stones away from them.

Simply everything that didn't followed the charge of the Chitauri Titans towards the Diamonds was charging towards them.

Peter sighed, shaking his head at the view before them, "I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that."

Wanda Maximoff landed behind them, "Don't worry."

Okoye approached the group with Shuri, "She's got help."

Many people have come in their aid, just to make sure the Infinity Stones would come near Thanos ever again. Lapis and Freckled Lapis flied forward right at their enemies, while by Pepper and Peridot doing the same, their mask going off their faces for a second to reveal their glare towards Thanos' goons in front of them. War Machine and Iron Man hovered above the group, seeing a quick glance with Peridot and Pepper. The duo joined them in the sky just a second later. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth and Stevonnie all strode forward, each of them gripping their weapons and looking each other a determined expressions.

Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl came forward, sending each other a quick nod and gripping their spears while Valkyrie flied above them. Spinel grinned as she marched forward with Azurite, Shi'ra, Jasper, Orange Pearl, Centi and Centi's crew. Benedict Wong stepped forward from his portal, bringing Hulk, Hawkeye, Nebula and Gamora with him. The two daughters of Thanos glared ahead at their father army and held their blades tighty in their grasp. The Wasp and Ant-Man enlarged themselves and joined the march. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes walked side by side, the two over hundred year old men were followed by Rocket, Groot, Army and Eyeball, Doc, Leggy and Navy joined them and marched by the sides of Army and Eyeball, the entire squad walked together for the first time in years. Falcon flied forward above the group, sharing a quick look with Steve and Bucky.

The residents of Little Homeworld, Biggs Jasper, Bixbite, Snowflake Obsidian, Little Larimar, Orange Spodumene, Rose, Shorty, Blue Lace Agate, Green Larimar, only a name of few were quick to join. None of them had fear in their eyes, just pure determination to stop the Mad Titan. Hessonite, Demantoid and Squaridot slid into the view, with the Whitebound brothers walking by their side.

They were just one of the few that joined the entire march to bring the Nano Gauntlet to the Quantum Tunnel...

Gamora and Nebula screamed as they ran in the front of the charge to destroy their father army. They two sisters instantly recognized who was leading their fathers charge. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive raised their weapons in the air, Cull Obsidian gritted his teeth while gripping his hammer, and Ebony Maw floated above them. Chitauri, Outriders, Sakaarans, Gorillas. Leviathans, Leviathan Drillers, starships, chariots, and necrocrafts all followed the lead of the four members of the Black Order.

The two daughters of Thanos leaped themselves from the rubble and each of them took their side in taking down a Chitauri Gorilla. Lapis and Freckled Lapis trapped a Leviathan in the waters chains and Valkyrie used advantage of this opportunity and slided her sword through the left side of Leviathan's body armor. Biggs Jasper used her shield to block an attack from a Chitauri before striking him back with her sword. Demantoid was having a hard time fighting off a Chitauri, because she was much smaller than the alien but her problems quickly went away when Robb lifted her up by her collar, giving her a chance to kill the alien which she did.

Iron Gem and Rescue held their hands forward and blasted a Chitauri Driller. Stevonnie lifted up a charging Outrider with their shield above their head and threw him right behind their back where the alien was quickly finished off by Centi who struck it right in the chest with her sword. Orange Pearl kicked a Sakaaran right in his chest, making the alien stumble backwards, and before he could strike back, the gem already dug her claws in his chest. Azurite saw it and send her a quick smile as she took out a Sakaaran himself. She smiled at back at him as two more gems joined

"You must be Orange Pearl." Rose stated.

"That's me." Orange Pearl nodded her head, "And you are?"

"They're Rose and Shorty. I started teaching them while you were gone." Azurite explained.

Shorty send Orange Pearl a quick smile, "Azurite told his every student so much about you."

Orange Pearl titled her head. Azurite had more students? This question would have to wait. The four claw wielding gems rushed forward with more of Azurite's students joining them, with their teacher leading them as they took out everything in their path to make sure Thanos won't get his hands on the Nano Gauntlet.

Sam Wilson and James Rhodes ruled in the skies as they hovered above the waves of Thanos' army and fired everything they had onto them. Bucky Barnes, Rocket Raccoon, Eyeball and Army did the same from the ground, neither of them thinking about pulling their fingers off the trigger of their guns. Clint Barton gave his own war cry as he slashed through every Chitauri in his way, eventually coming across Amethyst. The human and the gem who carried the Nano Gauntlet for the majority of the battle send each other a quick nods while Bruce Banner leaped himself up and brought down a Chitauri chariot with him. Bismuth rushed over to his side and slammed her sharpened hand on one of the Chitauri from the chariot, offering a quick nod of her head to Banner who nodded back.

Iron Man blew up a starship while Groot fed his arms into the ground and trapped a Chitauri Gorilla in one place as he felt someone hand pat his back. Shi'ra send him a quick smile as she rushed past him. The Kratai stabbed a charging Chitauri right through it's chest as as her plasma casters moved in every directions, firing plasma at everything in the Kratai's path. Hessonite cut through the chest of a Chitauri as looked around herself to see Jon stabbing his blade repeatedly as the chest of a knocked down Outrider, making the beast screech in pain.

Pearl stabbed a charging Chitauri through it's chest as she casted her eyes around the battlefield, and could find herself letting out a gasp of shock when she saw a scene just metres away from her. A Ruby guard, with a gem placed right on her shoulder was pinned down to the ground by Corvus Glaive. The member of the Black Order brought his glaive down right at the gem on the gem's forehead, shattering her.

She gritted her teeth in anger and stepped towards the member of the Black Order.

He saw her just a moment later, narrowing his eyes, "You must be Pink Diamond's pearl."

"You heard about me?" Pearl asked, glaring at him.

"I did." Glaive answered, "Everyone heard about your little rebellion, but in our timeline not many are aware of your and Pink Diamond's little lie. Or should I call her Rose Quartz?"

Pearl just sighed after hearing him mention Pink Diamond. It was too long before they charged towards each other. Glaive glared as he moved his blade forward at Pearl, only to have it blocked by her. Pearl's strike back and swung her spear at him, directly towards his neck, but his reply to her attacks was just like hers. He simply swung his glaive, moving her spear away from her. They twirled, spun, and slammed the edges of their weapons against each other over and over and again, and each time they would either dodge or block each other strikes.

Their clash ended when he swung low, making the gem fall on the ground. He lifted his glaive up and was about to bring it down on her gem, a guaranteed but instead, he screamed in pain as a porjectile struck him right into his shoulder. He stumbled back a bit as he looked over at who just shot him. Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl stood in the distance, with the shimmering edges of their spears forward.

Taking his attention off Pearl, Corvus roared as more projectiles were fired in his way. He swung his glaive around, blocking them as he took one step towards the two pearls with each projectile he blocked. Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl took defensive positions as Corvus reached them and swung his glaive at Yellow Pearl. She was barely able to avoid it, and she couldn't prepare herself for what happened next. She latched himself onto her, the two of them tumbling away.

He instantly got himself back on his feet as Blue Pearl came to aid Yellow Pearl. The blue gem swung her spear at him, and he knocked it away, unaware that behind Blue Pearl, Pearl was rising back on her feet. Glaive and Blue Pearl struck their weapons against one other, making several sparks when they connected. He stopped her strike in mid-air, as gazed into her eye with with glare. He moved his glaive away from her spear and swung low, righ at her stomach area, making stumble back a bit, and it was followed by another attack which send Blue Pearl on the ground.

But he wasn't excepting to see Pearl leaping towards him, with her spear leading. She gritted her teeth as she stabbed him right into his shoulder. She lifted him above her head and threw him aside, along with his glaive.

Proxima Midnight growled as she drove her spear through the chest of a charging asgardian. Her attention was quickly shifted to the member of the Whitebound tribe charging her way, with his sword in ready to fight her. He swung his blade at her,, directing towards her face and as she moved her upwards to block it. She striked back and he blocked each one of her attacks, while stumbling backwards with each strike he blocked. She sent him a smirk as she swung her spear one more time. This time, it was too strong for the member of the Whitebound tribe, and his blade fell out of his grasp.

She was simply much better fighter than him.

Out of the desperation he took his two throwing knives from his coat and used them as his weapons instead of throwing them. He swung them around, hoping that any of his swings will hit her, praying it for it, but she dodged all of them. She struck him straight in his face with the back of her spear, making him stumble backwards. She kicked him straight in his chest, and his small knives fell out of his grasp as he fell on the ground, with his face facing the dirt.

The last thing the member of the Whitebound tribe ever let out in the exact moment when Midnight brought down her spear on his back was a painful gasp.

Her took her spear out of the back of the bandit she just killed and looked around herself, seeing wounded Corvus Glaive laying on the ground. Her husband crawled towards his glaive so he could regenarate himself. She made her way over to him and picked up his glaive. He placed the bladeright in her husband's hand and stood in front of his wounded body, shielding him from everyone headed their way, waiting for him to regenerate.

Out of the chaos of everyone fighting with each other, Carol Danvers exited the flames with her fist leading her the other arm wrapped tightly and securely around the Nano Gauntlet. Her expression was focused on the van ahead of her. But she had to shift her attention when she saw the Mad Titan with his double-sided sword in hand charging her way, being his only target with murder raging in his eyes. She didn't slowed down, in fact, she increased her spead.

Help came from an unlikely trio, and Thanos didn't had time to react in time as Pepper, Peridot and Shuri appeared in front of Danvers. All three of them held their palms forward and fired energy blast at Thanos. The Mad Titan raised his sword to block it, but it couldn't do much against the combined power of Peridot's, Pepper's and Shuri's blasts. He was thrown viciously backwards, his body bouncing and rolling several yards before he was able to stop himself.

He instantly got himself back on his feet and saw Captain Marvel flying right above his head, breaking the distance between her and the Quantum Tunnel.

In an act of desperation, he screamed and threw his sword right at the Quantum Tunnel. Just when Carol was about to enter it, his sword made a contact with the Quantum Tunnel inside of the van. The destruction of the Quantum Tunnel created a massive shockwave of pure energy that neither decimated and or threw backwards any Chitauri or Outriders that happened to be standing nearby.

Thanos' sword went flying out of the van and it landed right in front of it's owner while Carol Danvers was shot back by the shockwave as well. She dropped the Nano Gauntlet as she went flying backwards, crashing through various piles of rubble and rock. Thanos grumbled as he pushed himself back on his feet. He looked around himself, and nothing else around him started to matter when he spotted the Nano Gauntlet laying just several yards away from him. All of them Infinity Stones were still attached to it.

"Fine..." He muttered to himself, picking up his sword, "I'll do it myself."

He started making his way towards the Nano Gauntlet, but before he could reach it an orange blur charged into him. He was already familiar with this blur, and his suspicion became true when he saw Jasper standing in front of him.

The orange quartz soldier glared at him, willing to clash with him again for as long as she could just to keep the stones away from him, "Remember me?"

Thanos shook his head, "Unfortunely."

Jasper snorted, wishing she hadn't known about him too, "At least this is something we can agree on."

Her response was followed by a quick heabutt. Thanos took a step backwards as Jasper continued her assault. She swung her fists at her, as Thanos attempted to cut right into her gem with his sword, only for the quartz soldier to grab his blade in mid-air and use it cut him him across his cheek, making Thanos gritt his teeth in pain, to which she smirked, enjoying that she managed to hurt him a bit after everything he has done to her and her friends.

Jasper continued her assault before Thanos kicked her in the her chest, sending her back a little. He dropped her sword and started swinging his fists at her. Each one of his blows was too strong for Jasper to even move an inch as she found herself stumbling backwards with each hit she received from the Mad Titan until her feets could take it anymore and she collapsed onto her knee, glaring up at her opponent.

The Titan moved to pick his sword up as he spoke up to her. It was something Jasper heard him say to her before, "I like you."

"Your future self said the same words to me." Jasper recalled, taking glance behind him and smiled after seeing two familiar gems behind them, "But this time, it's going to end the way it did back then."

Thanos gritted his teeth as he kicked Jasper into her chest. The orange quartz crushed into the rubble and was send flying backwards out of their sight. He turned back and saw Azurite and Spinel charging at him, with the first one taking the led. Thanos readied himself for their assault and in the exact moment when Azurite was about to attack him, he was thrown away by the swing of the Mad Titan's blade, leaving him alone with Spinel, at least for now.

Spinel looked in worry as Azurite went flying away from them. She gritted her teeth and used a nearby rubble to leap herself towards the Mad Titan, with only one intention showing her eyes. She twirled her scythe as she finally reached her target, but not everything went as she excepted because Thanos punched her in the exact moment when she was about to use her scythe on him.

The pink gem placed her free hand on her cheek, cringing at the pain she felt in this one place, but she couldn't let it distract her. She leaped herself forward again and moved to cut Thanos again, grasping him a little on his cheek. The Mad Titan gritted his teeth at another flesh wound on his face as he moved his sword upwards to shield himself from another strike from her. Unfortunely for her, but fortunely for him this time he managed to block it. Not only that, it was followed by a swing of his sword in the exact moment when Spinel was about to swing her scythe at him, it ended up with her losing her scythe as it simply fell out of her glowed hands.

She glared at him, "There is no going to be a happily ever after for you, Thanos. You don't deserve it."

Thanos smiled wickedly at her words, in response to that, Spinel swung her fists madly at him, not even thinking about stopping for a second. She managed to land a him on him once or two, bust most of her attacks were neither blocked or ducked. It was when she made a mistake Thanos wanted her to do. She extended her hand forward at the hand wielding his blade and tried to wrap himself around it. The Mad Titan used his other hand to grab hers and pushed her towards him. Spinel's eyes shot open as she didn't excepted it to happen, as she flied towards Thanos, which was followed by her getting punched in the face.

Azurite let out a deep breath as he watched how Spinel was knocked away after attempting to wrap herself around Thanos. He was about to get himself back on his feet when a certain Kratai stopped in front of him.

"I'm your sister, and you're my brother." Shi'ra said, reaching her hand down to Azurite, "To the end?"

Azurite breathed as he accepted her hand, getting himself back on his feet, "To the end."

They rushed towards Thanos, each one of them giving their own battle cries. Her newer model of her plasma caster aimed itself at Thanos and fired, while the older one was still recharging itself after she had to use it to fight off a group of aliens moments ago. Thanos brought his sword in front of himself, shielding himself from the plasma while Azurite took his hooks off his back. He spun them around before throwing them towards the Mad Titan.

The hooks wrapped themselves around Thanos' sword, and Azurite and Shi'ra used the advantage of this situation. Shi'ra fired another her plasma caster again, blowing off a piece of Thanos' armor who this time didn't had anything to shield himself from it, and it was followed by another which blow up another piece of armor. Azurite leaped himself from the ground and held his claws in front of him, as if he was a cat holding out his paws towards it's target.

He moved his claws to scratch Thanos who freed his weapon from the grasp of Azurite's hooks, and the only thing the male gem scratched was Thanos' sword. The male gem was joined by sister who came to his aid by firing her plasma caster again, and hitting Thanos right in his leg. Thanos didn't even tried to avoid this attack, because it was exactly what he wanted her to do. He sacrificed a piece of his leg armor and pretended that it hurt a little by crouching down a bit.

He then almost instantly rose up from the ground with his sword doing the same. It was swung right at Azurite who was sent flying backwards, crushing into Shi'ra who collapsed on the ground, feeling how her newer plasma caster fell off her shoulder. She casted her eyes around to see Thanos moving further and her brother landing a few metres behind her.

After taking care of two of them, Thanos was greeted by the sight of Centi, Shorty, Rose and Orange Pearl charging towards him. Rose ran ahead of the group and she didn't even had a chance to land a single hit on the Mad Titan, because he simply swung his sword at her and send her away from him and the rest of the group. Shorty cringed at the view of her best friend flying away them as she and Orange Pearl were the next ones in the line.

The two claw wielding gems rushed forward assaulted Thanos on both sides. Orange on the left and Shorty on the right. The of them only managed to do a few moves as Shorty could feel herself geeting lifted up from the ground after trying to send a kick towards Thanos. The Mad Titan used her as a shield and it worked exactly the way he wanted it to do. Orange Pearl hesitated to strike him after seing how the gem she just met was now used a shield by their opponent. Thanos then threw Shorty right into Orange Pearl and the two gems were not standing in his way anymore.

Centi glared at Thanos after watching how Orange Pearl and Shorty were thrown away from them. She swung her sword upwards, but Thanos simply caught it and after putting some pressure on it, the sword fell away from Centi's hand, landing right before her feet. Her eye opened as she didn't had time to react to it as Thanos knocked her away from him. The former corrupted gem crashed into some rubble and let out a painful grunt upon the impact.

Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl shared a quick look with each other as they were the next. Blue Pearl dropped her spear on the ground and immediately ran over to the Nano Gauntlet. She cluthed her tightly to her armor and started making her way away from the Mad Titan while Yellow Pearl and Pearl stayed behind to give her more time to get away. Yellow Pearl was the first who striked the Mad Titan, but her effort was for nothing. The clash between her and Thanos lasted only a few seconds. Her spear was thrown off from her grasp when she tried to shield herself from Thanos' swing with it. She didn't even had a time to move away from him as he caught by her arm and threw her ahead of him. Yellow Pearl grunted in pain as she flied right into Blue Pearl, the Nano Gauntlet falling out of the latters hands.

Pearl watched how Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl crashed into a corpse of a Leviathan before charging at the Mad Titan. The end of her spear shimmered and a projectile was fired at Thanos' face who brought his sword over his face to protect himself from it. Her assault lasted a bit longer than Yellow Pearl's, because of her being more experienced in war, but it was just a matter of time before she found herself crashing across the battlegrounds and landing somewhere among the rubble.

Shi'ra saw it all. She was how her friends were falling, one by one, neither of them unable to keep the Mad Titan away from the Nano Gauntlet for longer than a few seconds.

Why was this happening again? They already lost once.

They just managed to bring everyone back, and now all of this was happening again, only this time his intentions were far worse.

It was when she recalled a certain words Steve Rogers told them before the time heist.

She let out a deep sigh as she picked up her spear, "Whatever it takes..."

She rised back on her feet, her old plasma caster rising her shoulder, completely recharged now while the new one was laying somewhere on the ground and she didn't had time to look for it. Her plasma caster fired at Thanos' chest armor as she charged at him with only one intention of keeping him away from the Nano Gauntlet for as long as she could. Thanos readied himself for her attack another shot from her plasma caster was blocked by his blade. Shi'ra did her best to make the few strikes she did to be precise but her work didn't really paid. Thanos' either ducked or blocked her attacks.

It was Thanos' time to finally take her out of his way. After another one of the shots from her plasma caster, he punched her with his free hand. Shi'ra grunted in pain as she collapsed on the ground. Her eyes shot open when Thanos pressed his boot against her stomach, just to make sure she'd get up.

The Kratai gasped for a breath, desperately trying to breath as Thanos was putting more pressure on his boot. When it seemed that she was done, the Mad Titan removed his boot from her chest and lifted her up to his eye level. The two of them gazing into each other eyes.

"**You won't win...**" The Kratai said to him, her eyes dark with hate.

Thanos said nothing in response to her words, instead he grabbed her metalic denture and ripped it off her body. He then threw her a few metres aside, excepting her to stay down, but she didn't, even though she was only left with one hand to defend herself and was extremely exhausted because of everything that had happened today. The Kratai rised up from the ground, picking up her spear with the one hand she had left.

Her plasma caster fired one last shot at the Mad Titan as she charged forward, gripping her spear with the only hand she had left. Thanos felt how her plama touched his armor and turned towards her to see the Kratai huntresses, charging at him once again. She swung her spear around but she attack was blocked, and just a second after that, it was Thanos' turn to strike. He kicked her right in her chest, sending her skidding backwards away from him.

Shi'ra fell on her one knee as grunted at the pain she felt her stomach. She couldn't stay down. She was the only who left standing between Thanos and the Infinity Stones, for now, and she had to keep him busy for as long as she could. She rose back on her feet again and charged at him, still feeling the pain in her stomach, but it wasn't on her mind right now. She moved her spear upwards to cut him right across his face but it didn't do anything. He caught her spear with his free hand, and started putting more pressure on it, until it finally fell off her hand.

The Kratai's eyes shot open, because she was now practically left defensless. It wasn't over. Just second after her spear fell of her hand, Thanos kicked her in the stomach with his knee, which send her on the ground. She stared up at the Mad Titan and instead of seeing him move away from her towards the gauntlet, she saw him bringing down his blade with only one direction. Her stomach.

Shi'ra gasped at the explosions of pain that went through her body as his double sided sword penetrated her stomach, Shi'ra gasping as the explosions of pain went through her body. Blood started to pour from the wound and not long passed before the crimson began to pour from her mouth as well. She send him one last hateful glare, showing no fear towards him, just hate. She closed her eyes for the last time, and after that, there was nothing but darkness. Thanos picked up her bleeding and lifeless corpse by it's neck and threw it aside. Her corpse landed away him, with her face facing the dirt.

Azurite saw it all, everything what Thanos had done to his sister, as he rose back to his feet after a few moments of struggling, letting out a rageful, "**SHI'RA!**"

His scream of grief and anger was so loud that probably the entire battlefield heard him, but he didn't care. Despise struggling to get up just a moment before, Azurite charged at Thanos, with only one intention of killing after seeing what he did to his sister, his eyes were burning with hate. He held his claws in front of him the moment he made his way over to the Mad Titan.

He began swinging his clawed fists rapidly, breathing heavily every moment as he did so. His hateful eyes never leaving his target. Thanos grunted in frustation as he brought his sword down at the forehead of a gem attacking him. Azurite's eyes immediately saw that and he stopped his strikes to protect himself from Thanos' attack. He jumped backwards, managing to avoid Thanos attack just in time.

Azurite lifted his head up and looked up at the Titan in front of him. He and Thanos gazed into each other eyes. Azurite's hateful glare never left his face. He had lost so many people because of Thanos. Aleena and her family, a lot of his friends, including someone he fell in love with faded into dust when they failed to stop five years ago, but they managed to undo this, and now, he had to watch how, Shi'ra, someone he grew to love as his own sister was killed right in front of him.

It was when Thanos seemed to be finally done with him. Just as Azurite was move to attack him again, he punched the male gem right in his chest. It send Azurite flying backwards, away from him, and the last thing he saw before that happened, was an expression of the Mad Titan directed towards him. An expression of admiration. Just seconds after landing on the ground, Azurite tried to stand up again, but he couldn't. He fell on his back and didn't stand up.

They needed help. Thanos was just moments away from getting the stones.

That help came.

In as many ways as it could at the moment.

Lapis moved her hands forward, forming a wave of water which was sent straight at the Mad Titan. The wave reached Thanos and it made him take one or two steps backwards. He quickly proceeded forward as Lapis continued to strike him with more of her attacks. He neither ducked or shielded himself away from them with his sword, not noticing they were damaging his already damaged sword.

When he was just steps way from her, she trapped him in her water chains, making him drop his sword. She then brought her hands together to form a huge harpoon above her. Thanos saw that and roared, using everything in himself to break out of her water chains, succeeding in it which Lapis didn't failed notice. She was about to move her harpoon towards right between his eyes, but unfortunely for her, Thanos grabbed her left hand, and punched her straight in the face two times.

He grabbed Lapis by her shoulder and threw her away from him, but it wasn't over. Amethyst gripped two whips. They began sparking in violet energy as she whipped them at Thanos. Thanos acted quickly and before they could explode, he grabbed them and pushed them to himself, causing Amethyst to stumble towards him. He send a powerful punch right at her face, sending her flying backwards. She landed on the ground, just inches away from Shi'ra's body, the purple gem gazing horrically at the lifeless body of the Kratai.

Garnet charged at Thanos, swinging her gauntlets at him. Thanos let her punch him a few times, making him stumble an inch or two backwards before striking back. He fully onloaded on her. His punches were so strong and Garnet stumbled backwards with each one she took. A few seconds had to pass until she found herself falling on the ground. He punched her straight in her face. Her cracked visiors broke completely and, it's remains fell off her face, revealing her three eyes. The next punch was send right at her face, and It was too much for Garnet. She unfused herself into Ruby and Sapphire and just layed on the ground, unmoving.

He grunted as he picked up he finally had a chance to pick his blade from the ground. It was just seconds before Bismuth and Biggs Jasper charged at him, side by side. Bismuth swung her sharpened hands at him, hoping that any of her attacks will grasp him but none of them did. Her eyes shot open in fear when her hand was blocked by Thanos. She quickly swung her other one at him to break herself from his grasp, but not everything went just as she wanted. Thanos moved his blade from the blade he was blocking and used it to block her other strike.

He swung his sword forward, sending her flying across the battlegrounds, leaving Biggs Jasper alone with him. Biggs glared at him, after watching how Bismuth was thrown away. She moved forward with her sword in ready and swung her sword at him, but only seconds had to pass before she was sent stumbling backwards as well. Thanos was about to bring his sword at her and she used her shield to protect herself from it. She saw how a few small pieces fell out of her shield which was already damaged after she used it to shield herself and Bixbite from fire from Thanos' ship.

It was when she saw someone jump on Thanos' back. It was Bismuth. She tightened her grip around Thanos' neck, pressing her hands close to his armored chest. The Mad Titan gritted hi steeh in annoyance as he send Biggs Jasper stumbling backwards after blocking another one of her attacks. He quickly dropped his sword again, and grabbed Bismuth by both of her hands. He lifted her up right above his head and threw her on the ground, right before his feet. He quickly kicked his sword back into his grasp and was about to bring her down on her gem, instantly after it flied back into his grasp, a guaranteed death for her.

"You leave her alone!" Biggs shouted as she jumped between them, blocking Thanos' attack him with her sword. She already had to watch how a few of her friends lost their life during this battle. Her eyes also caught the sight of Shi'ra's lifeless body just a few metres away from her. She wasn't going to lost more of her friends.

Thanos' attention was completely shifted. Biggs Jasper swung her sword widly at him, her glare not leaving her face while also doing her best to avoid any strikes Thanos had planned for her. Her next strike was directed right towards his neck but unfortunely for her blade was caught inches away from his neck with his free hand. He started putting pressure on her sword, and Biggs Jasper could feel how it was breaking with each other. She tried to free her sword from his grasp but it was no use. Her sword broke into two equal pieces, and the upper half fell right between her and Thanos' feet.

She swung her other half of the sword at him, but it went just as she excepted. Her shield was the only thing she was left it. She brought it in front of herself to shield herself from his strike. His blade and her sword collided and she could see more pieces falling off her shield. He began repeatedly slamming his sword down at Biggs Jasper's shield as she was forced to take a step backwards with each powerful blow from the Titan. With each blow her shield was becoming more and more destroyed until it finally couldn't take it anymore and broke into pieces.

Her eyes burst open as she fell on her knee, letting out a gasp of fear as the last thing she had to defend herself was destroyed. Thanos brought his sword down at her, heading directly towards her gem as she did the only thing she could in this situation. She grabbed it and held it just inches away from her gem, gritting her teeth as desperately tried to hold it back for as long as she could. Unfortunely for her it didn't last long. The Mad Titan was much stronger than her as he finally freed his sword from her grasp. His sword was the last thing she ever saw.

"Biggs!" Bismuth cried as she just watched how one of her closest friends, one of the original crystal gems was murdered by the Mad Titan, all of it just to save her life, "**NO!**"

After hearing that, Thanos made sure Bismuth was going to stay on the ground with a firm kick in the lower part of her chest and after that, he simply walked past her.

It was when he spotted one last person between him and the Nano Gauntlet.

Stevonnie held their shield in front of themselves and gripped her sword tightly. They glared at him, but there was however a hint of sadness in their eyes after having to witness how Thanos just killed Biggs Jasper. They tried to get there in time to help her and Bismuth but they were too late.

They moved towards each other and the Mad Titan clashed with the fusion of Steven and Connie. He swung his sword at them, and his attack was blocked when Stevonnie held their shield in front of themselves. It was their chance to strike and it was exactly what they did. They swung their sword at them but his response was the same as theirs towards his attack was it was blocked as well.

They continued to spar with each other for the next few moments. Each one of the strikes Thanos and Stevonnie delivered towards opponent was strong but it was always ended up neither blocked or ducked by their opponent. The moment when Stevonnie's shield hit him, and made him stumble backwards was the moment when Thanos was finally done with the fusion he was fighting with, but it also gave him a great position for his next move.

He threw his sword forward, which Stevonnie of course managed to avoid, unaware of his true intentions behind it. Stevonnie moved forward with their next strikes as Thanos was waiting for his sword to come back. He grunted in pain when he could feel how one of Stevonnie' strikes slashed his unarmored arm.

Thanos touched his wounded arm, and looked at his bloodied finger, "All that for a drop of blood."

Stevonnie said in response as they were about to move forward with their strikes before the Mad Titan's blade came spinning around, strucking them in their shoulder. The double sided sword flied back into it's owner hand as now it was his moment to attack. Stevonnie didn't had a chance to react to it because it happened just second after they were struck with his spinning sword.

The fusion of Steven and Connie stumbled backwards with each strike they had to block with their shield until they reached a pile of rubble and debris. Stevonnie stopped right before it and tried to strike back but it didn't ended up just as they wanted to. Just a second after that, they found themselves laying in the rubble and debris as Thanos send a powerful punch directed right towards their face.

He didn't even bothered to look at them as Stevonnie began to glow, unfusing themselves into Steven and Connie. Steven breathed heavily as he watched how the Mad Titan moved away from them towards the gauntlet.

Steven's shield reappeard as he rose back on his feet. He threw it right at Thanos' back, to bring his attention to him.

It worked just like Steven wanted. Thanos turned backwards and saw the hybrid standing in front of him, "You must me Steven Universe."

"You know about me?" Steven wanted to know.

The Mad Titan quickly answered, "I do. I heard about you in my daughters memories."

"Can't you see that what you're doing is wrong! Destroying the universe will never save it!" Steven tried to reason with him, even though he was already aware that Thanos was someone who was beyond reasoning.

"This universe cannot be saved." Thanos spat, "That is why I must _rebuild _it!"

Steven just shook his head at his words and moved towards the Mad Titan. At first, Thanos was suprised how fast Steven was and already paid the price for not excepting it. Steven threw his shield right at Thanos' chin, making the Titan stumble backwards a bit. The hybrid began throwing his shield all across Thanos' body, until the Titan finally managed to block an upcoming strike with his sword, making the shield fly away.

He was about bring his sword down at Steven, but instead was met with a giant bubble forming around the hybrid. Shield appeared again in Steven's grasp as bubble disappeared. Everything started happening quickly after that. The hybrid used his shield to to defend himself from his strikes, or strike Thanos in every side of his body.

Steven ducked his attacks for as long as he could until Thanos, having enough of it, drove his sword right at his knee. Steven yelled in pain as he fell on his knee. Gritting his teeth, he quickly pushed himself back on his feet, only to be instantly met with Thanos' blade headed right towards his head. He quickly brought his shield above his head and blocked this attack. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could spot Lapis nearby, who seemed to notice that he spotted her.

She send him a quick a look and gestured towards Thanos' sword. Steven nodded his head to that and made sure his shield was going to hold the Mad Titan back for as long as he could. Lapis used this and formed a beam of water which was send right towards Thanos' double sided sword, and hit the blade right in the middle.

It was when Thanos' sword finally broke. It's pieces fell on the ground. The Mad Titan gritted his teeth as he quickly glanced around in Lapis' direction to see her laying on the ground and holding her right hand out. Steven used this and hit the Mad Titan straight in his chin with his shield. He moved his shield to hit him again but his weapon was caught by Thanos. The Mad Titan ripped it off from his grasp and instantly after acquring it, the Mad Titan threw it right at Lapis who didn't had time to duck the shield and it hit right in the head, sending her flying several metres backwards.

Steven quickly licked his finger and cured the cut on his knee with his healing spit, it was followed by a quick gasp after watching how Thanos used his shield to get rid of Lapis. The Mad Titan used this opportunity and punched Steven, making the hybrid fall on the ground. Thanos slammed his fist right on the hybrid's chest, making sure he'd stay down.

There was no one left before him and the gauntlet left, at least for now and he was going to use this. He quickly moved past Steven towards the Nano Gauntlet and was quickly met with Tony Stark attempting to grab the gauntlet. Thanos got rid of him quickly and pushed him out of his way as Thor jumped right between him and the gauntlet.

The son of Odin swung Stormbreaker at Thanos before throwing Mjolnir in the air. He quickly turned back, trying to pick up the gauntlet, only to be stopped by Thanos who caught him by his shoulder. Taking his chance to strike back, Thor swung Stormbreaker widly at the Mad Titan, making sure to aim at only one spot at Thanos' body. His head. Thanos grabbed Stormbreaker it mid-air as Mjolnir returned to the God of Thunder. He used both handles to push Stormbreaker into Thanos' chest, roaring.

The first Avenger saw that Thor was having trouble. He came to aid and jumped on Thanos' back to push Stormbreaker deeper into Thanos' chest. Thanos had enough of it and facebutted Thor, then grabbed the first Avenger to the ground and and punched him one in the face, knocking him down. After taking care of both of them, the Dark Lord moved to the gauntlet and picked it up.

He had his hands on the Nano Gauntlet. It was finally in his hands.

Seeing him with the touch with the Infinity Stones, Danvers arrived to take care of him, but their clash ended quickly as he grabbed her by her arm and threw her away from him. Everyone around him was done and he finally could put the Nano Gauntlet on his hand. The energy moved around his body as the power of all Infinity Stones was going through his veins.

He lifted his gauntleted hand to snap his fingers, but was stopped when Danvers once again came to stop him. She dragged his hand down, trying to take the gauntlet off his hand, glaring at Thanos who stared at her. He headbutted her, but it didn't worked the way he wanted to. She was standing her ground and it seemed like she didn't feel it at all. It took him by suprise and she used this moment to fly up to push him on his knees.

Doing the first thing that came to his mind, Thanos took the Power Stone from the gauntlet, screaming in pain as it's energy pulsed through his hand. Carol's eyes widened in suprise, and unfortunely she didn't have time to react to it, as just a second after spotting it, Thanos send a powerful punch in her way. She was send flying backwards, completely out of Thanos sight.

Tony pushed from the ground who was still keeping the water away from engulfing the battlefield. Strange gazed into the Iron Avenger and shakily raised one finger.

Stark knew what he meant by that.

1 timeline out of 14,000,605...

Thanos placed the Power Stone back in it's place in the Nano Gauntlet, yelling in pain as the the power of all Infinity Stones was going through his veins. Tony came in and grabbed the gauntlet. He looked up at Thanos while pulling it away before he was punched.

Stark was send backwards by the punch as Thanos eyed the Nano Gauntlet.

He breathed aloud and spoke to Tony Stark, for one last time.

"You see it now? You see how everything you've built crumbles right in front of you? Your resistance would never work. Many tried, and they always failed. They always fell before _me_."

Tony wasn't looking at him, but Thanos didn't care. He raised his right hand and stared at it, ignoring everything else around him.

"You can dread it, run from it, destiny still arrives. You tried to take it away, undo it, but now, you are aware that I was always meant to do this. A new universe is going to be birthed, the one that is going to be grateful for everything I sacrificed for it."

He turned to face Iron Man one last time, and smiled.

"I am_ inevitable._"

SNAP!

He snapped his fingers, excepting a light to be spread, awaiting for it, but much to his confusion nothing happened. It was a just a normal snap of his fingers. He looked at the Nano Gauntlet to see what was wrong, to find out that the stones were missing. He looked around and saw what happened to be the stones and froze after seeing something in front of him.

The Infinity Stones, all six of them reappeard in his view. They all were placed on Tony Stark's right hand. He kneeled before Thanos, slowly rising raising his right arm. His eyes looked at the rainbow bolts devouring his right arm, starting with his fingertips and then going all the way up to his shoulder. He breathed heavily as he used everything he had in him to look at Thanos. To someone who plagued his head since the invasion of New York.

Thanos just stared right into the eyes of the Iron Avenger in horror, and did nothing else.

"And I am..."

Tony gasped at the pain of the stones consuming the right side of his face, but managed to hold his hold his quivering hand for Thanos. To make sure the Mad Titan saw it all.

He finally brought himself to say these one last words. He made sure Thanos heard all of it.

"..._Iron Man._"

SNAP!

All reality around them turned white.

But everyone else was unaware of what just happened and the war for the fate of the universe was still going on.

Rocket was firing his dual pistols at the Chitauri Leviathan. The beast roared as it descended on the talking raccoon who never stopped firing at it, even though it was helpess. He was unable to move away from it in time, and the darkness crashed upon him, as the jaws of the Leviathan consumed him and blackness was the only thing he could see.

He braced himself for his inevitable demise, but much to his suprrise and confusion, he somehow survived. He placed his palm on his beating heart, as he was able to see everything around him again. He glanced around himself, as the Leviathan who was seconds away from eating him faded away.

Faded into dust.

It wasn't just this one Leviathan.

It spread across the entire battlefield.

In a matter of seconds, the battle completely stopped. The army of the Avengers watched in confusion how this plague started overcoming their enemies. Chitauri stumbled, their weapon either falling, or fading away from their grasp, just seconds before they faded away as well. Sakaarans shared their fate, the aliens giving their one last breaths as they stared into the sky, thinking that iwas going to stop, thinking that their bodies won't fall apart. Outriders and Gorillas screamed in pain as all of them crawled across the battlefield, whimpering every moment as they did so, aimlessly looking around themselves, just moments before they joined Chitauri and Sakaarans and a pile of dust was all that was left of them.

Emerald had to stand up from the seat in her ship to see if this was actually happening. She stopped right in front of the front window of her ship and watched how everything from fell the sky. Leviathans and Leviathan Drillers all dropped from the sky like flies, shattering into dust before they could reach the ground. Every lifeless corpse of Leviathan and Leviathan Driller resting on the battlefield quickly joined them, leaving nothing but dust. Chitauri chariots, starships, and Sakaaran Necrocrafts all vanished in the air, simply broke apart into pure ash. All of the dropships faded away, even the burning remains of Sanctuary 2 disappeared, it's ashes falling onto the lake.

Blue Diamond was struggling to get up as the Chitauri Titans was pinning her down, until it's entire body dissolved into nothing but dust right in front of her eyes, much to her confusion. She slowly got herself back on her feet and her gaze immediately went to Yellow Diamond and White Diamond. All three Diamonds stared stunned at everything happening before them. The Chitauri, Sakaarans, Outriders, Gorillas, every aircraft of Thanos' army, simply everything they were fighting off broke apart into the dust.

It was just moments before Chitauri Titans were included in this. The massive beasts that remained alive to this point stumbled back, their massive feet or claws shaking the ground beneath them as this plagues slowly consumed their massive bodies. The corpses of the Titans faded away as well, leaving gigantic piles of dust where they just layed a second ago.

The army of the Avengers watched it all happen.

Peter Quill and T'Challa stood together, their eyes gazing into the sky as they watched the army just disappear, leaving nothing but dust. Robb and Rickon stood with Hessonite, Demantoid and Squaridot, watching how every of Thanos' troops surrouding everyone in the sight just faded away, in an instant. Squaridot even removed her visiors just to make sure she wasn't seeings things. It was real. It was happening. Thanos' army was indeed fading away into the dust. Ruby squad stood together and for the first time her entire life, Leggy was not the only gem from her squad that was confused about everything around her.

Terra and Cotta were watching everything from the battlefield. They grabbed each other and held onto themselves tightly, in fear that they lost again, and were going to die. if they were going to die, then were going to die together, in each other arms. It was until they noticed one thing. Thanos' army was fading away, not theirs. They were approached by Joy, Hawk, Eagle, Saphron and Delta, their fellow crewmembers looking confused just as them.

Lars and his crew stood with his crew next to their destroyed ship, each of them gazing into what was just happening before their eyes. Everyone were excepting Padparadscha to make a late comment like she usually did but nothing happened. She just stared at everything in silence. Every gem that formed Fluorite fused back together as Lars closed his eyes and exhaled softly, before turning to his crew, sending each of them a smile. They smiled back.

The Dark Lord had to witness everything he had worked for his entire, everything he had built fell apart right before his eyes. His armies, his fleet, his warship, his throne, even the remains of his sword, it all faded away. He watched how the ashes of his Chitauri, his Sakaarans, his Outriders, his Gorillas covered the battlegrounds. His eyes caught the sight of the Black Order as well. Ebony Maw fell on his knee, bowing to his master for the last time in his life as he faded alongside the wind. Cull Obsidian dropped his hammer on the ground as he stumbled back, before the ash consumed his body and his weapon. Proxima Midnight held her wounded husband close to herself, pressing her forehead against his as the ash overcame their entire bodies as well.

This was his defeat. His mind was still trying to process it but _they _defeated him. He lost.

It was over...

He stared at Steve Rogers and Steven Universe. The first Avenger and the hybrid of a human and gem watched how the world around the Mad Titan fell apart. They breathed heavily and met the Thanos' gaze, both of them excepting him to say something, like one last remark, to do something to them, like try to bring them down with him, but he didn't. He had nothing to say to them. He just stared them, meeting their gazes be he turned away from. When he was turning around he could spot Azurite struggling to get himself back on his feet in the distance, the male gem sending him one last hateful glare.

Thanos met his eyes and they shared one last look. He turned away from the male gem after a moment, found a stump of rock amongst the destruction just a moment later. He sat down, resting on it. His face showed the expression of utter loss. Everything he had achieved, his destiny, it was all taken away from him.

He was aware that those were his final moments, and wanted them to be the ones of a peace. He breathed in, and let out a soft exhale, which was followed by another one and one, each exhale he let out in his final moments was longer than the previous one.

He closed his eyes when one last breath left his lungs. His head fell slightly as the bits of ash consumed his shoulders, his body, and eventually reached his face, taking him to the place where'd met his eternal rest.

He accepted all that came and died accepting everything that happened, that he was defeated.

Steve, Steven and Azurite saw it happen. They saw the demise of the Mad Titan with their very own eyes. Azurite breathed in, it was finally over, someone who was inside his head for twenty five years was defeated, but this wasn't on his mind right now. The lifeless body of his sister in the distance was. Jasper and Orange Pearl approached him and helped to get him back on his feet as they began approaching Shi'ra's corpse.

Steven could feel how tears of hapiness went down their cheeks as he felt someone embrace him from behind. He was released from the hug and turned to the person who just hugged him. It was Connie. They send each other smiles, gazing into each other eyes, before they slowly started leaning in and what happened next was a moment between them. They wrapped their hands around each other and shared their first kiss. They released each other from the kiss, just seconds before more joined their hug. Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis, all joined, and they shared a large group hug, celebrating that Thanos was defeated.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Azurite. The male gem stood over Shi'ra's lifeless body, watching how Jasper and Orange Pearl pulled her onto back, all three of them desperately searching for a sight of life in her. He pressed his hand to her neck and checked, hoping for a pulse. Finding none. Gasping, Azurite broke completely and rested his head against Shi'ra's heart, sobbing over the loss of his sister. Jasper's expression broke as Orange Pearl gasped, putting her hands over her mouth, as tears started to stream down her cheeks. The group was approached by Spinel and Centi. The pink gem gasped as she hugged Azurite's back, both of them sobbing over Shi'ra's body as Centi's expression broke, the green gem with Jasper being the only one from their group who managed o stop themselves from crying.

Centi's crew approached them, all of them cheering loudly in victory, but their happy expressions faded away and turned into confusion upon seeing their captain and Jasper who were hanging her heads low. They all got their answer the moment when they saw Shi'ra's lifeless corpse on the ground.

Their Kratai friend was gone...

Bismuth fell on her knees when she walked over to the remains of Biggs Jasper's gem. She picked them up from the ground and looked down at them with teary eyes, before pressing it against her chest, mourning the loss of her friend. A friend that saved her life.

It was when Peridot and Rhodey landed in front of them, making them release each other from their group hug.

Peridot was the first one to speak up, she was nervous, even after they won, "Guys, have you seen Tony?"

"We can't find him." Rhodey added, sounding just as nervous as Peridot.

Their smiles disappeared and Steven glanced over to the spot where Tony snapped his fingers to kill Thanos. He wasn't there.

"Tony!" Ruby was the one who called out for him, but there was no reply.

Silence was the only answer they needed to get do know what to do next. Steven, Connie, Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl and Amethyst pushed themselves into run and started looking for Tony, while Peridot, Rhodey and Lapis took off into the sky, hoping that they're going to spot him from the above. They were joined by Captain America, and shorty after, Thor Odinson joined them as well, and the two Avengers were just one of the many that joined. They searched the ruins for the man who saved them all, for the man who saved the entire universe.

Steven breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted him somewhere among the ruins, but this feeling of a relief was short lived when saw him fall down.

The hybrid of a human and gem quickly broke himself into run as well and made his way over the Iron Avenger, kneeling before him, and calling out, "He's here!"

He turned over to Tony Stark who was leaning against debris. He gasped at the state the Iron Avenger was in. His Iron Man armor was shredded in multiple places, leaving his left arm and face free to the elements around him. His skin was pale. The veins of the Infinity Stones that were still attached to his right arm consumed the entirety of his arm, his shoulder, part of his chest, and the right side of his face.

Tony slowly looked up at the hybrid in front of him. Steven knew what could have heal Tony's wounds. He licked both of his palms and pressed them against's Tony's chest, hoping that his healing spit will heal him. Tony just saved them all. He deserved to to live. He just waited for his healing spit to finally do it's work and heal Tony's wounds, but it never did.

Why wasn't this working?

Tony looked up at him. It was the first time when he met the hybrid of a human and gem, but he knew that this kid was trying to save him by putting his spit covered hands on him. He heard about his healing powers from Peridot.

Stark gave him comforting look as Steven realized that his healing powers weren't able to him. His look said, "_It's okay._"

Steven just nodded his head in response as War Machine and Iron Gem landed before him and the Iron Avenger. He moved his hands away from Tony's chest and turned over to look at them. He shook his head, sadly. The War Machine's mask rose up while Peridot's mask disappeared from her face, revealing their shaken expressions. Steven walked past them, allowing them to say their goodbyes to Tony. He walked past Steve and Thor, sending them a saddened expression as he made his way over to Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst, Connie and Lapis.

Peridot and Rhodes slowly approached their friend. The latter kneeled down and placed his armored hand on the right side of Tony's face, while the green gem placed her hand on Tony's left shoulder. A smile grew on Tony's pale lips as he glanced at his best friend, and a gem who became one of his closest friends over these past few years. They did the best they could do to smile back.

"Hey." Peridot spoke up to him, giving him a comforting smile, even though she was seconds away from bursting into tears, "You did it. You defeated him."

Rhodey nodded his head as finally brought himself to say something to his best friend, sending him the best smile he could offer, "Good job."

They heard as web swing behind them. They closed their eyes and left Tony's side. They stepped aside when a voice of fear, confusion and dread which belonged to Peter Parker spoke up.

"Mr. Stark?" He asked as his mask slid upwards, revealing his face. He ran up to his fallen mentor, with tears starting to form in his eyes. His voice was shaking as he tried to speak to the man who was his hero, to the man who became the father figure he needed after uncle Ben died, "Hey– Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it..."

His words were met with almost no response. Tony was just staring at the young Avenger before him, and it was the only response Parker got from him. Peter's hands were trembling and his expression shattered. His body quivered and tears were falling down his cheeks like a waterfall.

"...I'm sorry _Tony_."

He broke away from Tony when he felt someone's put his hands on his shoulder in a comforting manner. He rose back on his feet and raised his hands to cover his broken expression. He stood in the back with Rhodes and Peridot. Pepper Stark kneeled in front of her husband. She kept what he felt hidden, to make sure Tony would saw her strong, just she has always been.

She whispered to him a simple, "Hey."

Tony turned to her. His voice was so weak and quiet that she was barely able to hear his response, "Hey, Pep..."

She placed her hand on his Arc Reactor and Pepper watched how he somehow found the strength in him to lift his own and place it on hers. She called out to his AI, "Friday?"

Friday's answer was quick, "_Life functions critical._"

All Tony could do was smile at her. To tell her that everything was going to be okay. Pepper smiled back. His head slowly moved to the side, breaking his eye contact with her.

"Tony. Look at me." She told him as Tony slowly turned back and met her gaze again, "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."

She kept smilling at him, wanting her smile to be the last thing her husband ever saw. The moment when his head moved to the side, once again with his eyes slowly drifting off was the moment when started shaking, trying to stop herself from bursting into tears for as long as she could.

It was when the light on his Arc Reactor turned back and his hand fell from hers.

Anthony Edward Stark was gone...

She didn't had to contain her grief anymore and it was when she finally broke. She kissed him on his cheek and pressed his head against his shoulder and cried into it.

Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson watched it all from where they stood. The first Avengers wasn't able to contain his tears and was crying. Thor somehow stopped himself from crying, so far, but he didn't know if he'd be able to contain his tears for longer.

Clint Barton witnessed it from where he stood. Natasha wasn't the only who died to save everyone. The Iron Avenger had died too. He was the first one to fall on his knee to honor the death of his fellow Avenger and pressed his right hand against his forehead. Black Panther turned to him for a second, before turning back forward him before taking his knee as well. Captain Marvel turned her gaze away to look at the Wakandan king and Hawkeye, before placing her knee on the ground as well. Captain America stumbled a at first, but got himself on his knee as well, with Thor, Hope, Bruce and Scott falling shorty after him.

Stephen Strange fell on his knee to honor the man who sacrificed his life for the greater good and lowered his head. He saw it all in visions on Titan five years. Everything went exactly like the way it supposed to. Out of the milions outcomes he saw, this was only one where they win, but it didn't change the fact that he felt guilty. Guilty that Tony had to sacrifice his life to defeat Thanos.

Standing in the distance was Star-Lord. The leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy fell on his knee, lowering his head in respect. Valkyrie glanced over at him, soon enough was kneeling too. Nebula, next to Peter Quill, joined him. Drax, Rocket, Groot and Mantis behind them fell to their knees and lowered their heads.

Steven was the first one from the Crystal Gems to fall on his knee. Connie's eyes went over to him as she took her knee as well. All of the Crystal Gems following the example of him and soon enough, Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis Lazuli took their seat, in silence and honor. Bismuth quickly went to her knee as well, still holding the remains of Biggs Jasper in her hand, with Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl falling on their knees as well. Jasper and Orange Pearl took a seat as well, with Centi falling too just a second later and, her crew quickly following their captains example. Azurite took his knee too, with Spinel falling shorty after, putting her hand on his chest to make sure he wasn't going to collaps on the ground. Hessonite took her knee, with Jon, Robb, Rickon, Demantoid and Squaridot taking their appropriate knees as well. Shuri, Okoye, Falcon, Wong, Wanda, and Bucky kneeled for the Avenger.

No one excepted the Diamonds but they did. Blue Diamond was the first one from the three of them to fall on her knee, and she was quickly followed by Yellow Diamond and White Diamond, honoring the fallen Avenger.

Honoring everyone that lost their life in this battle...

* * *

**"Humans. They are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled. To challenge them is to court...Death." The Other, Avengers, 2012**

**Welp, it's finally done. Thanos has been defeated once and for all. His death will always be one of my favourite ones. In the end, he showed no anger, no remorse, no final words, he knew that nothing could be changed and accepted his own defeat.**

**RIP Tony Stark, Earth just lost one of it's greatest defenders.**

**RIP Shi'ra, an outcast of the Kratai's who died fighting alongside people she grew to care about as her own family to stop the greatest threat.**

**RIP to everyone who lost their life to save the universe from the Mad Titan. Your sacrifice won't be forgotten!**


	45. The Real Hero

_"Everybody wants a happy ending, right?"_

The world was celebrating. The world that was left in shambles after what had happened five years was went back to it's being normal. Cities were repopulated, families found each other and shared a tearful reunion with each other, consisting of hugs and tears and kisses

"_But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration."_

The festivity lasted an entire day. Parades of celebration marched through the streets, as everyone were simply happy of being able to see their families, friends again. People held the figures of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, people responsible for making all of this happen.

_"_ _I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there ever was such a thing."_

Clint Barton walked through the hatch of a Quinjet as his children immediately rushed into his embrace. He wasted no time and returned their hug. They released their dad from the hug when their mother, Laura, approached them. Clint gazed into his wife's eyes, as she put his hands on his cheeks, before they shared a deep passionate kiss.

King T'Challa stood with his sister and his mother as they watched the Golden City of Wakanda together. They all smiled, hearing the cheers of victory for their victory while fireworks exploded in the sky, engulfing it in various colours.

Peter Parker walked through the hallways of his school when he spotted his best friend Ned in the distance. They smiled as approached each other and shared a handshake, before sharing a tight hug.

Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, and Cassie Lang all watched the fireworks from the porch of their house. Ant-Man wrapped his hand around the Wasp's shoulder, holding her tightly to himself as his daughter leaned against her father.

Steven and Connie pushed themselves into run when they caught the sight of their parents standing in the distance. Greg, and Connie's parents engulfed their children in a tight embrace, neither of them wanting to let go of their children.

_"_ _God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent."_

All three Diamonds were doing a broadcast, informing the gems who didn't join them fight against Thanos about everything that had happened, and who was responsible for bringing half of the gem population back. They especially talked about the sacrifice of a certain human who saved the entire universe from Thanos' wrath.

Yellow Pearl, Pink Pearl, and Blue Pearl all stood next to each other, making sure everything was going to be broadcasted. A huge smile grew on Pink Pearl's face as she wrapped her hand around her fellow pearls. Blue Pearl smiled to this gesture, while Yellow Pearl rolled her eyes, but still smiled.

The Whitebound tribe was celebrating their victory by drinking, eating and singing songs. Everyone stopped what they were doing when Jon raised his liquor filled glass in the air and toasted for everyone who lost their life in the battle against the Mad Titan. Everyone held their glasses in the air and let out in unison "For everyone that lost their life!" .

Outside of Little Homeworld, a crowd of gems and humans gathered around a pile of sticks with a corpse of Shi'ra laying on it. Azurite, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi all held lightened up their torches as they walked to the pile, each of them taking different sides as they lit the pile up, before stepping back to the others.

Azurite watched with teary eyes as Shi'ra's corpse was engulfed in flames. Spinel grabbed his hand into hers as Jasper put her hand on his shoulder, the three of them mourning the loss of their roommate. Orange Pearl hung her head low in respect, and closed her eyes while Centi just stared at the burning corpse, paying respects for her friend.

_"I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And, for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in."_

Everyone came to honor the life of a certain visionary, genius and an American patriot, and someone who lost his life to sacrificed his life to make all of this possible.

Family and friends all stood together in the living-room of the Stark residence, watching the message Tony had recorded. The blue light shot from Iron Man's mask laying on the table, showing everyone a hologram of Tony Stark, leaning against the chair as he spoke to the people he recorded this message for.

His best friend James Rhodes wasn't afraid to show his tears as he sat on the couch next to Peridot. The short green gem lowered her head, feeling how tears were streaming down her cheeks like never before. Happy Hogan sat next to Pepper Stark and Morgan Stark, with teary eyes. Morgan clung into her mother, an expression of loss overcoming her facial features, despise being just a few years old she was aware of what had happened to her dad. Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner and Clint Barton all stood in the back, listening to the last message of their fellow Avenger.

Pepper Stark sat next to her daughter. She managed to hold back her tears and maintained her composure as she listened her husband message to his family and friends.

"_So I thought I'd probably better record a little greeting... In the case of an untimely death on my part. I mean, not that, death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's– it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end..."_

He stood up from the chair and made his way over to the couch. He gazed into his wife and daughter, the two of them sitting directly in front of him, as if he knew they'd sit on this couch.

He send them one last smile and spoke his last words.

"_I love you 3,000._"

The hologram dissapeared, the last thing it showed was Tony giving them an assuring and comforting smile. Pepper gazed into where her husband just stood a few seconds ago and smile, it was that small that it was barely noticable. Her daughet tightened her grip around her mothers shoulder, as Pepper looked down at her, and rubbed her hair comfortingly.

They exited their home hand in hand, followed by Happy, James, Peridot, Steve, Bruce, Thor and Clint. They stepped into the daylight and walked down the steps. Pepper held a bundle of flowers left hand while the right one was gripping her daughters hand. They walked past everyone who came to pay their respects for her husband, for their friend, for the one saved them all.

She moved to the lake dock and everyone followed her. She kneeled down at the end of the dock and placed the flowers on the surface of the lake. On top of it layed a tiny Arc Reactor. The very first Arc Reactor that was created to save Tony's Stark life all those years ago when he was trapped in a cave. There was a certain set of words wrote on it, and Pepper knew them very well, after all, she was the one who wrote them.

Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart.

Pepper watched the Arc Reactor swim across the lake, as she held her daughter close to herself. Morgan had her eyes glued to the Arc Reactor. Peridot, James Rhodes and Happy Hogan stood next to each other. Happy wrapped his hand around Rhodes who put his hand on Peridot's shoulder. The short green gem in return to his gesture put her hand on his. All three of them lost their close friend and were watching him leave.

Peter Parker stood behind them with his aunt May Parker by his side. The two of them dressed appropriately to pay their respect for the man who did so much for them, who changed their lives for the better. Steve Rogers and Thor stood side by side, two Avengers lowering their heads in respect as they stared into the lake. Bruce Banner stood behind the first Avenger and the God of Thunder. The arm he used to snap his fingers to bring everyone back was put in a sling. He rubbed his chin with his other hand as he sighed mournfully for the loss of his friend.

Stephen Strange and Benedict Wong stood with each other, their expressions set in the stone as they gazed forward each other into the lake.

Outside of the dock, on the grassy hills in front of the Stark residence, many others stood in silence, watching the flowers and Arc Reactor floating over a lake. Scott Lang stood with his daughter Cassie in front of him and his best friend Luis standing next to him. Hope van Dyne stood on his right with her mother Janet and father Hank. Even Hank Pym came, despise being not a fan of Tony for the last few years.

Behind them stood Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Connie, Lapis and Bismuth all stood next to him, with their heads low and their eyes on the lake. Greg stood behind him, rubbing his hand against his sons shoulder while Doug and Priyanka Maheswaran stood behind their daughter.

Azurite, Spinel, Orange Pearl, Jasper and Centi stood along with Peter Quill, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Nebula, Mantis and Kraglin Obfonteri. They all wore some form of black clothing very similar to the clothes they wore everyday. Even Drax wore a shirt to honor the Iron Avenger.

T'Challa, Shuri and Okoye stood behind the Guardians of the Galaxy. Their hardened expressions looking at the Arc Reactor on the lake. Next to them stood the three leaders of the Whitebound tribe. The Whitebound brothers hung their heads low, paying their respects for someone who saved all of them in silence.

The Barton family stood behind them, overlooking the lake. Clint stared at the Arc Reactor of his fellow Avenger, and a friend swimming away and his family stood with him. His hands rested on Lila's and Cooper's shoulder while his wife Laura stroked their youngest child, Nathaniel hair who was leaning against his mother.

Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl and Pink Pearl stood next to each other. Neither of them did or said anything. They stared at the lake, at the flowers, and the Arc Reactor. Next to them stood Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes and Samuel Wilson. Wanda and Bucky had a really troubled past with Tony Stark, but they decided to bury the hatchet and arrived to honor him and his sacrifice.

Harley Keener stood alone behind them. His hands were in his pockets as he stared forward, paying his respects for someone who changed his life for the better. Maria Hill and Thaddeus Ross stood behind the young man, gazing together towards one direction. Carol Danvers stood on the steps of the Stark residence, gripping her hands and gazing into the scene in front of her.

Right behind the Stark residence stood three massive figures. All three Diamonds came to honor the passing of the human who did something even they couldn't. The human who saved the universe.

Nick Fury stood alone on the porch, as he placed his hands on the wooden railing, watching over everything before him, everyone who came here to honor the life and legacy of Tony Stark.

Many gave Morgan and Pepper their condolences for their loss, before saying their goodbyes. Morgan was getting tired and Happy offered to take her on the bench in front of the house so she could rest a bit.

He sat down next to her her, wrapping his hand around her, asking, "How you doing, Squirt?"

Morgan's answer was short and quick, "Good."

"You good? Okay. You hungry?" Happy asked her another question.

"Mm-hmm." Morgan nodded her head.

"What do you want?" Happy wanted to do know what she wanted to eat.

"Cheeseburgers." Morgan answered.

Happy smiled to that, recalling a certain memory with her father, "You know your dad liked cheeseburgers?" He gazed to the sky, his smile still on his face, "I'm gonna get you all the cheeseburgers you want."

Many people have already left the lake side, except for three of them. Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff and Azurite still gazed into the waves of the river, thinking about people they loved that lost their lives to put an end to the Mad Titan's reign.

"You know, I wish there was a way that I could let her know." Clint spoke up to them, as he turned towards Azurite and Wanda with grief stricken expression at the memories of what happened on Vormir, "...That we won. We did it."

"She knows." Wanda stated, as she gave Clint a nod. She then turned to look at Azurite. She and Azurite didn't interacted much, but she remembered how she and Shi'ra fought off hordes of Outriders in Wakanda. She gave him a comforting nod, saying, "They all do."

Azurite and Clint just smiled at her words and all continued to gaze into the lake.

* * *

Thor stood on the hill, overlooking recently repopulated kingdom of New Asgard while wearing a pair of shades over his eye, listening to the sounds around him, like the wind blowing in the air or birds flying in the air.

Valkyrie approached him, asking, "So, when can we expect you back?"

Thor turned to her, "Um, about that..."

"Thor. Your people need a king." Valkyrie smiled at him.

"No, they already have one." Thor stated.

"That's funny." Valkyrie chuckled, before turning to look at Thor who instead of laughing had a serious expression on his face. Seconds later, she realized what he meant by that, "You're being serious?"

Thor nodded his head, as he looked at New Asgard, "It's time for me to be who I am rather than who I'm supposed to be. But you, you're a leader. That's who you are."

"You know I'd make a lot of changes around here." Valkyrie stated, turning to look at New Asgard.

"I'm counting on it." Thor said, extendind his hand for a handshake, "Your Majesty."

Valkyrie stared at him for a second, before accepting his handskake, "What will you do?"

"I'm not sure. For the first time in a thousand years, I– I have no path. I do have a ride, though." Thor turned around to look at the Guardians ship, which was sitting on top of the of a cliff while Rocket was standing outside, waiting for him.

The talking raccoon spoke up to the God of Thunder, gesturing for him to follow, "Move it or lose it, hairbag."

Thor nodded as he turned to Valkyrie, giving her a nod, "I'll be seeing you around."

Valkyrie responded with a nod of her own, "Yeah, I'll see you."

They both moved separate ways and Rocket took Thor inside of the Guardians ship. Peter Quill was looking any clues to where Gamora went after the defeat of Thanos as he stood in front of the map.

He swiped the picture of Gamora away when he heard Thor come inside, "Well, here we are... Tree, good to see you. Well..." He stopped next to Quill. He put his things on the table and removed his shades, patting Quill on his shoulder, "The Asgardians of the Galaxy, back together again. Where to first?..."

Quill looked at Thor touching the map screen without his permission. He gave Thor a stern look, swaping the map to where he left of, "Hey, just so you know, this is my ship still. I'm in charge."

Thor turned to Quill, "I know. I know. Of course, you are. Of course."

Just seconds after saying those words, he touched the map again, which didn't failed notice it, "See, you say of course, but then you touch the map. It makes you think that maybe you didn't realize I was in charge."

"Quail you that's your own..." Thor began.

Quill tried to cut him off, "Quail?"

Thor ignored his question and continued, "...Insecurities in there. Okay? I'm merely trying to be of service and assisting.

"It's Quill." Quill corrected Thor about his name.

"That's what I said." Thor stated.

Drax looked at these two, "You should fight one another for the honor of leadership."

"Sound fair." Nebula stated.

Quill looked around him, "It's not necessary."

"It's not." Thor agreed with him.

"I got some blasters, unless you guys wanna use knives." Rocket offered.

Mantis clapped her hands enthusiastically, "Oh, yes. Please, use knives."

"Yeah, knives." Drax seemed to like this idea too.

Groot smiled, nodding his head, "I am Groot."

Thor and Quill looked at each other, hearing their team encouraging them to fight over the leadership, making them both laugh, but the latter's was clearly more forced.

"Not necessary." Quill stated.

"There shall be no knifing one another." Thor declared, "Everybody knows who's in charge."

"Me." Quill looked at Thor, wanting to be sure, "Right?"

"Yes, you. Of course." Thor gave a short laugh, "Of course. Of course."

Quill just gave a quick nod in response, still not exactly sure if Thor was serious or not. He turned to his crew, saying, "I think we should head there now if we don't want to be late."

"Where are we going?" Thor asked.

Quill's response was, "Little Homeworld. There's something we need to attend."

* * *

Steve, Bruce, Peridot, Garnet, Sam and Bucky were all standing in front of the ruins of the Avengers headquarters, preparing themselves for the last part of their mission which was returning the Infinity Stones back to their rightful points in time. Bruce and Peridot worked together to build new time machine, and once it was ready, it was time to return the stones to prevent everything the Ancient One told them would happen if they didn't returned them.

Garnet and Steve stood together, wearing Time Travel GPSes on their wrists, waiting for Bruce to hand the briefaces over to them. They divided their work in two halfs. Steve would be sent to return the Time Stone, the Mind Stone and the Space Stone,while Garnet would return the Reality Stone, the Power Stone and the Soul Stone

Bruce shut the briefcaces, saying to them, "Now, remember– You have to return the stones to the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities.

"Don't worry, Bruce. We'll return them without any problems." Garnet assured him with a nod of her head, with Steve nodding his head in agreement.

She and Steve picked up their half of work, before Bruce whispered something to Steve, "You know, I tried. When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back... I really miss her."

Steve gave him a comforting nod in response, "I know."

"Garnet." Peridot stopped Garnet for a second, "You better return. I'm going to have bad time explaining to everyone why you haven't returned."

The fusion just gave her a smile, which Peridot returned, giving her one too.

Sam Wilson walked with Steve Rogers towards the platform, offering, "You know, if you want, I can come with you."

"You're a good man, Sam." Steve responded, turning to Garnet for a second, "This one's on me and Garnet, though."

Sam just gave him a smile and nod of his head in response as Steve approached his best friend, telling him, "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

Bucky smiled, recalling himself telling his best friends those words before. He also remembered the answer Steve gave him, "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

The two hundred year old men moved wrapped their hands around each other, embracing themselves in a tight hug.

When they released each other, Bucky said to Steve, "Gonna miss you, Buddy"

"It's gonna be okay, Buck." Steve gave his best friend an assuring nod before making his way onto the platform along with Garnet. They pressed their Time Travel GPSes and the Quantum Suit overcame their bodies.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sam asked Bruce and Peridot, looking up at Steve and Garnet.

"For them? As long as they need. For us? Five seconds." Bruce replied.

"You won't even notice that they are gone." Peridot added.

Garnet picked up Mjolnir with her free hand, having to return in to Asgard as well, as Bruce called over to her and the first Avenger, "Ready, guys?" They both nodded their heads in agreement, "Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet." Steve answered with Garned nodding her head.

"Going quantum. Three, two, one..." Bruce pressed the button and Steve and Garnet disappeared into the Quantum Tunnel.

"And returning in, five, four, three, two, one..." Peridot pressed the button and almost everyone's suprise, only Garnet appeared on the platform, her suit instantly disappearing from her body. Steve Rogers was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here." Bruce stated, as he looked at Garnet, "Garnet. Where is he?"

Garnet remained silent, just adjusted her new visiors, being aware of what Steve was planning because he told her before their mission. Bruce and Peridot turned away from her and the platform and started pressing and pushing the buttons, trying to bring the first Avenger back.

"Well, get him back." Sam stated.

"I'm trying." Bruce answered, trying to find a way how to bring Steve back to their times.

"Get him the hell back!" Sam repeated himself, this time, more loudly.

"What do you think we're doing?" Peridot asked him as Garnet got herself off the platform and began approaching the green gem and Bruce.

Their argument was cut off by Bucky, "Sam."

Sam, Bruce and Peridot stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction Bucky was looking at. Everyone sawn an eldery man sitting on the log, gazing to the lake in front of him. Wilson and Barnes began approaching him while Banner, Peridot and Garnet watched everything from where they stood.

Bucky stopped and had a smile forming on his face when he spoke up to Sam, "Go ahead."

Sam send Bucky a quick look before walking towards the old man. He instantly recognized him as the now elderly Steve Rogers.

"Cap?" He asked him.

Steve turned to look at him, "Hey, Sam."

Falcon could feel smile forming on his face, "So did something go wrong, or did something go right?"

"Well, after I put the stones back, I thought..." Steve began explaining, forming a small smile on his lips, "Maybe I'll try some of that life Tony was telling me to get."

"How'd that work out for you?" Sam asked him.

The first Avenger gave a soft nod of his head, "It was beautiful."

"I'm happy for you." Sam couldn't stop smilling, "Truly."

"Thank you." Steve thanked him in response.

"Only thing bumming me out is the fact I have to live in a world without Captain America." Sam stated.

"Oh, That reminds me." Steve reached down to his right side and pulled out what happened to be his shield, and placed it in front of Wilson, "Try it on."

Sam turned back to Bucky. He shouldn't be the one to wield this shield. Steve's best friend should be the one. Barnes gave him a nod of his head in response. The Winter Soldier was still not popular among the people across the globe. Bucky knew he still had to fix his reputation and he knew that Steve was making the right choice by giving the shield to Sam.

Wilson slowly picked up the shield, feeling the handle on his arm as he looked down at Steve.

"How does it feel?" Rogers asked him.

"Like it's someone else's." Sam answered.

"It isn't." Steve stated.

Sam was holding back his tears, when he said, "Thank you. I'll do my best."

They extended their hands towards each other and shook them, with Steve saying, "That's why it's yours."

Wilson smirked when a wedding ring around Steve's finger, "You wanna tell me about her?"

"No." Steve turned away from him, smilling, "No. I don't think I will."

Garnet smiled after seeing everything happen from where she stood as Peridot asked her, "You knew about his plans, didn't you."

"I did." The fusion responded with a nod of her head.

"We should head back to Little Homeworld." Peridot stated, looking up at Garnet, "It is starting soon."

When Bruce turned to them with a questioning look on him face, the fusion explained, "We're having a small event in Little Homeworld where we're going to honor everyone that lost their life."

"It is starting in three hours and we should head out know if we don't want to be late." Peridot added.

Bruce nodded his head in understanding, "What are you going to do now?"

"Those five years were really tough ones for everyone. I'll rest for a bit and catch up with the others." Garnet answered.

"As for me, one the things I'll do is starting to work on Iron Gem Mark 2." Peridot said, glancing down at her Arc Reactor, "I know that there are some major upgrades..."

She was cut off when she heard something behind Bruce and Garnet All three of them turned around orange sparkles which formed into a portal.

Stephen Strange stepped out, with the portal behind him showing the sanctum, "Peridot. There is something we need to talk about."

"What it it?" Peridot asked him.

"In private." Strange told her, "It'll take only a few minutes."

Peridot looked up at Garnet, with the fusion assuring her, "Go. I'll wait."

The short green gem gave the fusion a nod of her head as she walked over to Strange and walked through the portal. Seconds after stepping through the portal into sanctum, she asked, "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I took you here because there's something I want to ask you." Strange explained.

Peridot raised her brow, "What is it then?"

Doctor Strange's answer to her question was, "Peridot, would you be interested in studying Multiverse?"

* * *

Today was an important day for Little Homeworld. This was the day when the residents of Beach City and Little Homeworld were going to honor the lives of everyone that didn't made it from the battle against Thanos alive. Everyone from Little Homeworld and Beach City were present, even those who weren't living in neither of those places came to pay their respects for the brave souls who came together to stop the greatest threat and paid the greatest price for it.

Everyone listened carefully to Steven's speech about the reasons why all of them came. He stood right in front of what was called "Memorial Wall" with the paintings of gems, humans and one Kratai that sacrificed their lives for the greater good. The Guardians of the Galaxy along with their newest member Thor Odinson stood next to Azurite, Spinel, Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi.

The three Whitebound brothers were present in the crowd of gems, humans and alien as well. Jon had a chance to visit this place a few times during the five years of the Mad Titan's Era, and had a chance to meet a most of the gems who didn't survived the battle against Thanos. He felt like he needed to pay his respects, and his brothers came along with him, to at least show the appreciaton to everyone who lost their lives.

After Steven said his final words, Azurite sighed as he stepped forward towards the paintings, looking for a certain painting, passing by gems and humans who were offering their respects for their fallen friends.

Orange Spodumene and Bixbite walked over to the painting of Crazy Lace Agate, offering their respects for their fallen friend.

Blue Lace Agate and Ocean Jasper did the same in front of Zebra's Jasper painting, with Mr. Smiley offering his respects as well.

Angel Aura Quartz lowered her head as she approached the painting of Lace Amethyst. The gem on the painting never had a chance to return to her home in Little Homeworld.

Bismuth had her hand placed on the painting of Biggs Jasper, a gem that saved her life from Thanos, which costed her own.

As he proceeded to walk along the sidewalk, he passed a four other paintings of the gems that joined them to stop the Mad Titan and paid the greatest price for it. These four gems started living in Little Homeworld after Thanos' snapped his fingers, trying to find a new place for them to live on after they had to watch their friends and loved ones dissolve into ash on their old homes.

Azurite sighed as he passed those paintings, paying his silent respects for each one of them, one of them being one of his students...

But the paintings of the gems weren't the only ones present on the memorial wall. The paintings of two humans who lost their life for the greater good were also present. Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark. The paintings of two Avengers were placed next to each other.

It was when he finally made his way over to the painting of Shi'ra. He placed his hand on the painting and lowered his head, as a few humans and gems, like Steven, Greg, Garnet, Rose and Shorty along with their friends who were brought back when Banner snapped his fingers, they were only a few of the gems and humans alike to come over and offer him their condolences for the loss of someone he loved like his own family, his sister, to which he always replied with a sad smile and a nod of his head.

He lowered his head as he placed his right hand on the painting, thinking about how many times she was there for him, no matter how much of a emotional wreck he could be.

Their meeting in the bar on Tarok...

Them becoming friends by going on the jobs together and growing to care for each other as a family, a brother and sister...

Her doing her best to keep him alive after what happened on Konoritos...

Him saving her life on the day when she lost her hand...

Both of them finding home in Little Homeworld...

Them having to deal with the effects of Thanos' snap...

Them going back in time to bring half of the universe back...

And finally, them along with many others going against the Mad Titan for the last time, to show him how much they're sick of his existance, something which costed her own life.

A lone tear fell down his cheek as a memory of a certain converation they had a long time ago went through his head.

_"If you really want to end with yourself, then go ahead! But do it right in front of me, because if you'll do it to yourself, then I'll do it to myself!"_

_"Why do you care about it so much?"_

_"Because you're like a brother to me Azurite! A brother that I always wanted! And I don't want you to die!"_

Azurite sighed at this memory, memory of the first time when Shi'ra called him her brother.

His eyes shot open when he felt someone grab his right hand, he glanced down and saw Spinel. The pink gem offered her beloved one a smile. He then felt someone giving him a pat on his shoulder, he instantly knew who it was, Jasper. The orange gem was quickly joined by another orange gem. Orange Pearl offered Azurite a nod of her head, as she stood by Jasper's side. Centi was quick to join them, the green gem now standing by Spinel's side. All five of them payed their respects for their friend.

They were quickly approached by a few more people. Peter Quill and the Guardians of the Galaxy along with their newest addition, Thor Odinson. They all just stared at the painting in silence, neither of them saying anything. The Whitebound brothers came over as well. They weren't that close friends with Shi'ra, but they felt like they had to come here to honor her life and her death.

It was when Azurite took something out from his pocket. It was a picture that was taken during the new year party by Bixbite and Orange Spodumene. He, Shi'ra, Jasper, Centi, Spinel and Orange Pearl were all clinking their glasses filled with water with a small addition of a drop of a certain alcohol while having a huge smiles on their faces, enjoying each other company, unaware of what was going to happen just a few months later, and that it was going to be the only time when all six of them would celebrate the new year together.

He smiled down at it as he placed the picture on the wall, right next to Shi'ra's painting. There was something inscripted on it. Words of goodbye of her friends.

"_We'll miss you._"

It wasn't anything special, but those words felt right for them to write as a goodbye for their fallen friend on this picture.

"Do we know if she any family out there?" Thor spoke up.

"We can find them and tell them what happened to her." Quill offered.

"She had one." Azurite paused for a moment, recalling the talk he had with Shi'ra in Avenger headquarters before Bruce snapped about how much she appreciated everything she had now, "_Us_. We were the family she always wanted."

Steven, Connie, Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst looked at the scene before him, the gems, humans and alien alike were paying respects for their fallen friends. The hybrid couldn't help but feel a little bittersweet about everything. They defeated Thanos, and made sure he wouldn't rebuild the universe in his own image, but so many people lost their lives to make sure it wouldn't happen. Lapis told him that how many possible outcomes of their clash with the Mad Titan, Doctor Strange saw, and he knew that they won in only one out of the milions.

Everything that happened had to happen to stop the Mad Titan, but still he wished that they would be able to avoid the deaths of Tony, Natasha, Shi'ra, Biggs Jasper, Crazy Lace, Zebra Jasper, Lace Amethyst, and many others.

"Uh, Steven?" A familiar voice called over to him. He turned to the gem it belonged to and saw Pink Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl approaching him, Garnet, Connie, Pearl and Amethyst.

He titled his head, asking her, "What is it?"

"We warped ourselves to Little Homeworld to pay our respects and when we were coming here we came across a human who told us to that his boss is waiting for you in your house." Blue Pearl explained.

Steven, Connie, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst shared quick looks with each other, with the white gem asking her fellow pearls, "Did he told you anything else?"

"No. All he just told me that his boss is waiting for all of you in your house and that his boss doesn't like to wait." Pink Pearl answered, "Then he just left."

Steven shared a quick with Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Connie before replying, "Thank you for telling us. We'll see what he wants."

Pink Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl just offered them quick nods of their heads in response as they moved forward towards the memorial wall. Steven, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Connie all looked at each other before they making their way towards the war pad in the center of Little Homeworld and warped themselves right into the temple.

They took a few steps forward and saw a black skinned man with an eye patch on right eye sitting on the couch.

This was person was no other than Nick Fury.

Fury stood up from the couch, "I assume that you already know who I am."

"We do." Steven answered with a nod of his head, "You are Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. We saw you at Tony's funeral."

"That's right." Fury said, moving closer to Steven and the rest, intending to have a long time with all of them, "I believe we may have some talking to do."

* * *

Azurite leaned against the wall of one the houses, watching over how gems and humans were paying respects for their fallen friends in silence.

"Hey, Az." Azurite turned to the source of the voice and saw Jon Whitebound walking over to him.

"Jon." Azurite offered him a nod of his head as Jon leaned against the wall next to him.

"I'd like say my condolences for Shi'ra, again. I know how much she meant for you." Jon said, offering Azurite a bow of his head. Azurite just gave him a nod of his head in response. The Whitebound then asked him, "What are you going to do now?"

"I think it's quite obvious that I'll be staying here." Azurite answered, "I just want to rest. The last five years were tough for everyone, and I guess that we all deserve a break."

Jon nodded his head with a smile on his face, "Sounds good to me."

Now it was Azurite's turn to ask Jon about his plans for the future, "So, Jon. What are you and your brothers going to do now?"

"I think you already know the answer, pal." Jon answered.

Azurite nodded his head, before asking, "Where did you left your ship? I saw you arrive through the warp pad."

"It is waiting for us at Hessonite's and Demantoid's colony." Jon answered, earning a confused look from Azurite, "We're not wanted by them anymore after we saved Demantoid during the battle."

"Are you going to keep it, or are you going to make them hunt you again?" Azurite wanted to know.

"The latter. These five years opened our eyes about many things, and we all agreed that we wouldn't be able to return to our old life." Jon answered, "Me and my brothers are thinking about turning our tribe in a group of mercenaries that actually fight with people like us before Thanos' snap."

The male gem smiled at him and offered one him another nod of his head as Robb and Rickon approached them, with the latter saying, "Jon. I think it's time to go."

Jon send his brothers a nod as he extended his hand towards Azurite, "Until next time, pal."

Azurite looked at Jon's hand before shaking it, "See you soon."

Jon smiled at Azurite as they released their hands from the handshake. Robb and Rickon send Azurite a quick smiles as well as they followed their brother to the nearest warp pad which would take them straight to Hessonite's and Demantoid's colony.

After seeing them leave, Azurite glanced around and saw Quill standing alone not that far from him.

He approached the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, offering him a quick, "Hey, Quill."

Quill turned towards him, offering him, "Hey, Az." in response.

"So, you and your crew are back on the road?" Azurite asked him.

"We sure are." Quill answered.

"You know if you will ever needs help, just give me a call, and I'll get there as fast as I can." Azurite informed him, gesturing towards his device.

Quill gave him a quick smile, "I know that, pal."

Azurite returned the smile as the two friends moved towards each other. They wrapped their hands around each other, embracing themselves in a tight hug.

When they released each other from the hug, Azurite glanced over at Thor, "At least you won't have to worry about the rest admiring Thor's body."

"What?" Quill asked, suprised that Azurite knew about that, "How do you know that?"

"Rocket told us." Azurite answered, "During one of the times when he and Nebula were staying in Little Homeworld."

Quill sighed and shook his head while Azurite chuckled to that. The two of friends just talked with each other for the next few minutes about some regular things, simply enjoying talking with each other.

When it was time for Quill and his crew to leave, Azurite, Jasper, Spinel, Centi and Orange Pearl all exited Little Homeworld with them, where their ship was waiting for them. The two groups shared quick goodbyes, consisting of hugs, laughs and the assurence from Azurite, Spinel, Jasper, Orange Pearl, and Centi that if Quill and his crew ever need their help, then they free to call them and they'll come and help them.

The Guardians of the Galaxy walked up hatch of their ship, sending the group of gems quick looks, even Mantis gave them a quick wave, before it closed down. Azurite, Spinel, Jasper, Centi and Orange Pearl all stepped back a little and watched how the ship boarded and left the Earth.

With them gone, there was one more thing Azurite had to do. There was something he was planning to give to a certain green gem.

He turned to Centi, calling over to her, "Hey, Centi."

Centi turned to look at her friend, "Yes, Azurite?"

"There's something I think you should have." Azurite answered, as he extended his hand. Seconds later, his gem began shining.

"What is this?" Centi titled her head as Shi'ra's plasma caster she got from Stark appeared in his hand.

"It's the plasma caster Shi'ra got from Stark when we were preparing for the time heist. I know how jealous you were of her having one for a while now." Azurite explained, pushing the plasma caster towards the green gem.

Centi waited for a moment to reply, "Azurite. I can't take it. It's..."

Azurite shook his head and cut her off, "You can. You two were good friends before we started hanging out with each other after that baseball game. I remember her joking about your obsession with chaps, and you wanting to have plasma caster similiar to hers. I'm keeping her spear and old plasma caster for myself."

The former corrupted gem hesitated for a moment, but ended up taking the plasma caster from Azurite, "Thank you."

Azurite just send her a small smile in response, "Do you think It's time for to test your new weapon?"

"I guess." Centi nodded her head, "But do you know a spot where we can test it?"

Spinel raised her index finger, "I think I know a good place. Azurite and Jasper should know what I mean."

She was right. Azurite and Jasper knew what place she meant by that. The same place in the forest where Shi'ra and Azurite took Spinel, Jasper, Steven and Amethyst to show what her plasma caster could do.

"You guys go." Azurite said to them, turning in the direction of his house, "I'll just pay a quick visit to my room and join you in a second."

Before any of them could ask him what he was going to do, he already started walking in the direction of his house. Spinel watched him leave, before glancing over at them, saying, "Jassie. Can you take them there? I'll catch up with you guys."

Jasper gave her a quick nod in response. The two of them parted ways. Jasper, Orange Pearl and Centi headed out of Little Homeworld into the forest, while Spinel followed Azurite to their house, with him unaware of the fact that she was following him.

He walked into his house and walked up the stairs, heading straight to his room. He opened the doors to his room and walked over to the cupboard. His gem shined again and Shi'ra's spear and old plasma caster appeared in his hands. He eyed them for a second before putting them on the cupboard next to Aleena's machete and Karolyn's headscarf, but it wasn't the only thing he put there.

Another thing appeared in his hand and this time it was his myst forming glove which was given to him by Quill and Gamora all those years ago. The only time he used it in the last few years was during the battle with Thanos. He sighed, as he put it on the cupboard as well, feeling like he wasn't going to use it anymore.

He moved his gaze a bit to the left and saw an urn filled with Shi'ra's ashes. It wasn't going to stay there for long because Bismuth offered to built him a special thing where he would keep Shi'ra's ashes, for which he was grateful.

It was when he heard someone walk into his room. From the sound of this gems boots, he instantly knew who it was. He turned around to this gem and saw Spinel standing in front of him.

"Everything is going to be okay now, Azzie." She spoke up to him, "And if anything happens, we'll get through it. I promise.

Azurite had to think for a moment before replying. He was finally accepted by gems for being what he is, something he always since his early days on Homeworld. He finally had a place to call home, here in Little Homeworld. He had gems, humans and aliens he considers his family. Thanos was gone for good, and was not coming back and they saved as many people as they could from his wrath.

The future actually looked promising...

He will keep going.

This is what Shi'ra would have want him to do.

"Yes." He finally spoke up to his beloved one, giving her a smile and nod of his head in response, "I know we will."

Spinel smiled back at him as she extended her hand towards him, "I love you."

Azurite grabbed her hand into his and leaned in, giving her a quick kiss, before replying, his smile not leaving his face, "I love you too."

* * *

**Well, here we go, this story has officially been completed. When I started writing it back in November, I'd never say that it would end up having 200000 words, and 45 chapters...**

**Thank you for anyone who read, left a kudos and a bookmark on this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**I hope to see you in my future projects!**

**blaszczu2500 signing off!**


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